DOWNEY 
The  Imaginal  Reaction  to  Poetry 


UNIVERSITY  OF  WYOMING 

DEPARTMENT  OF  PSYCHOLOGY 

BULLETIN  No.  2. 


The  Imaginal  Reaction 
to  Poetry 


By  JUNE  E.  DOWNEY 
PROFESSOR  OF  PSYCHOLOGY.  UNIVERSITY  OF  WYOMING 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WYOMING 

DEPARTMENT  OF  PSYCHOLOGY 


BULLETIN  NO.  2 


The  Imaginal  Reaction  to  Poetry 

The  Affective  and  the  Aesthetic  Judgment 


BY 

JUNE  E.  DOWNEY, 

Professor  of  Psychology,  University  of  Wyoming 


LARAMIE.  WYOMING  : 

THE  LARAMIE  REPUBLICAN  COMPANY. 

PRINTERS  AND  BINDERS. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTORY  STATEMENT 5 

I.     IMAGINAL  REACTIONS  TO  POETIC  FRAGMENTS 5 

1 .  Method   5 

2.  Frequency  of 'Different  Forms  of  Concrete  Imagery 7 

3.  Characteristics  of  Different  Forms  of  Imagery 9 

a.  Visual  and  Optical-Kinaesthetic  Imagery 9 

b.  Auditory  Imagery   1 1 

c.  Olfactory  and  Gustatory  Imagery 13 

d.  Cutaneous  Imagery 14 

e.  Organic  and  Pain  Reactions 14 

f.  Kinaesthetic  Reactions    .  .  . . 15 

4.  General  Characteristics  of  the  Imaginal  Reaction .16 

a.  Use  of  Memory  Material 16 

b.  The  Background  17 

c.  Imagination  Types  18 

d.  Spontaneous  and  Voluntary  Images 19 

e.  Self-Proj.ection   19 

5.  The  Inner  Speech 20 

II.     DEPENDENCE  OF  REACTION  UPON  MATERIAL 25 

1 .  Literary  Suggestion    25 

2.  The  Method  of  Style 27 

III.  THE  AFFECTIVE  REACTION  TO  POETIC  FRAGMENTS 30 

1.  Imagery  and  the  Affective  Judgment •. •  -3° 

2.  The  Variability  of  the  Affective  Judgment 36 

3.  The  Aesthetic  and  the  Affective  Judgment 41 

IV.  SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS 46 

APPENDIX.     POETIC  FRAGMENTS 49 


The  Imaginal  Reaction  to  Poetry. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  present  report  cites,  at  some  length,  the  imaginal  and  affective  re-  \ 
actions  of  a  number  of  subjects  to  many  poetic  fragments.  The  experi- 
mental studies  of  imagery  that  have  previously  been  made  would  seem  to 
render  such  a  study  as  this  of  slight  importance  unless  enforced  by  presen- 
tation of  some  new  method  of  control, — the  great  need  in  imagery-investi- 
gation. No  such  control  was  utilized  except  that  in  such  extensive  reports 
as  the  following  there  is  a  continual  checking  of  an  earlier  by  a  later  report. 
The  intensive  nature  of  the  test  and  the  aesthetic  material  which  was  utilized 
in  arousing  the  imaginal  reactions  must  be  pleaded  as  an  excuse  for  the 
study. 

The  reports  to  be  presented  in  the  following  page?  were  gathered  with 
the  following  purposes  in  mind : 

1 i )  It  was  desired  to  test  the  images  aroused  by  poetry  as  an  aesthetic 
material  in  order  to  compare  such  results  with  those  obtained  by  Professor 
Martin  in  the  first  series  of  her  experiments  "Ueber  aesthetische  Synaes- 
thesie"  (10),  in  which  pictures  were  used  as  the  imagery-arousing  situation. 

The  test  resulted  in  the  gathering  of  an  immense  amount  of  material 
relative  to  the  arousal  of  images  by  means  of  words.  In  this  respect  the 
study  simply  adds  to  the  literature  already  current  upon  individual  differ- 
ences in  such  arousal.  Especial  attention  was,  however,  directed  (a)  to 
optical-kinaesthetic  images  in  distinction  to  kinaesthetic  reactions  felt  in 
the  person,  a  distinction  Miss  Martin  has  urged;  (b)  to  the  projection  of 
self  into  the  imaginal  situation;  and  (c)  to  the  inner  speech  as  aesthetic 
material. 

(2)  It  was  desired  to  determine  the.  value  of  the  Method  of  Style,  and 
the  criticism  that  there  is  little  hope  of  getting  insight  into  the  imaginal 
predispositions  of  a  given  author  by  means  of  the  images  aroused  by  his 
productions  in  the  mind  of  a  particular  reader  because  of  the  extreme  di- 
vergence among  individuals  in  the  kind  of  images  aroused  by  given  phrases. 

(3)  By  the  method  of  group-arrangement,  an  estimate  was  sought  of 
the  affective  and  aesthetic  value  of  the  different  fragments  and  of  the  rela- 
tion of  such  value  to  the  number  and  kinds  of  images.     In  brief,  Miss 
Martin  found  that  aesthetic  pleasantness   (or  unpleasantness)   was  height- 
ened by  rich  imagery  and  that,  in  particular,  images,  or  pseudo-sensations, 
from  the  so-called  lower  senses  (touch,  taste,  and  smell)  played  a  by  no 
means  unimportant  part  in  the  aesthetic  appreciation  of  pictures.    Would  the 
same  statement  hold  true  in  the  appreciation  of  poetic  material? 

I.     IMAGINAL  REACTIONS  TO  POETIC  FRAGMENTS 

I.      METHOD. 

In  the  experiments  on  the  imaginal  reactions  to  poetry,  two  groups  of 
subjects  were  used ;  seven  in  the  first,  or  Wyoming,  group ;  five  in  the 
second,  or  Chicago,  group.  Every  reagent  in  the  first  group  had  had  some 
training  in  introspective  observation,  particularly  in  the  observation  of 
imagery,  but  only  one,  D  (the  writer)  had  had  extensive  training.  The 


6  THK  IMAOIN.M.  RKACTION  TO  POKTKY. 

members  of  the  Chicago  group,  graduate  students  of  psychology,  had  had 
more  extensive  training  than  those  of  the  first  group. 

The  subjects  of  the  first  group  read  one  hundred  and  ten  fragments  of 
poetry  and  wrote  out  detailed  reports  on  the  imagery  aroused  by  Midi  read 
ing.  These  fragments  were  taken  fr«>m  the  poetical  works  <,f  the  following 
poets:  Blake,  Foe,  Keats,  Shelley,  and  Swinburne,  and  were  selected  so  as 
to  give  variety  in  the  kind  of  suggestion.  The  fragments  were  typewritten 
upon  blank  cards  of  the  same  quality  and  size  and  the  following  typed  direc- 
tions were  placed  before  the  subject  while  at  work : 

"Do  you  experience  a  posture  or  movement  of  an  object  in  the  descrip- 
tion as  if  it  were  your  own  posture  or  movement?  If  so,  in  what  part  or 
parts  of  the  body  is  the  posture  or  movement  felt?  And  with  what  strength? 

"Do  you  see  an  object  descrihed  in  the  fragment  in  movement?  Do 
you  experience  sensations  or  images  of  sound,  color,  light,  smell,  taste,  pres- 
sure, temperature,  pain,  organic  quality,  while  reading  the  fragment? 

'Do  you  hear  the  fragment  repeated  in  inner  speech  while  reading  it? 
If  so,  does  the  reading  have  auditory  quality?  Is  it  that  of  your  own  voice? 

"Pass  a  judgment  upon  the  aesthetic  value  of  the  fragment  as  follows: 
+3,  very  pleasant;  +2,  moderately  pleasant;  +i,  somewhat  pleasant;  o,  in- 
different; ?,  partly  pleasant,  partly  unpleasant;  — I,  somewhat  unpleasant; 
— 2,  moderately  unpleasant ;  — 3,  very  unpleasant." 

These  directions  followed  those  of  Mi-s  Martin's  (10:6,  7),  with  the 
modifications  necessitated  by  change  of  material. 

X.)  time-limit  was  placed  upon  the  work  which  required  for  com- 
pletion several  hours  at  different  sessions.  The  advantage  in  such  procedure 
was  that  the  time  necessary  for  aesthetic  absorption  in  the  material  was 
given;  the  disadvantage  in  the  method  was  the  shift  in  the  attitude  of  the 
reagent  from  one  day  to  another. 

Some  weeks  after  the  completion  of  this  work,  the  subjects  were  asked 
to  classify  again  these  fragments  according  to  their  pleasantness-unpleas- 
antness as  outlined  above,  and  then  to  redistribute  them  into  four  groups 
according  to  the  imagery,  under  the  following  rubrics :  very  vivid ;  mod- 
erately vivid ;  faint ;  no  imagery.  These  second  records  were  used  ( Part 
III)  in  determining  the  relation  between  the  vividness  of  the  imaginal 
reaction  and  the  affective  judgment.  (io:i8f.) 

The  Chicago  group  of  subjects  read  over  silently  one  hundred  of  the 
fragments,  (see  appendix)  typed  as  before,  and  gave  their  report  to  the 
experimenter  orally.  The  method  was  somewhat  different  from  that  used 
with  the  Wyoming  subjects.  Fifty  fragments  were  read  at  a  sitting  and 
the  reports  on  visual,  auditory,  and  other  imagery  were  obtained  at  dif- 
ferent sessions.  The  order  of  procedure  was  as  follows :  The  reagent 
would  first  classify  the  fifty  fragments  into  eight  groups,  according  to 
their  affective  value,  under  the  categories  given  above,  very  pleasant,  mod- 
erately pleasant,  somewhat  pleasant  and  so  on.  After  the  experimenter 
had  made  record  of  the  fragments  in  each  group,  a  redistribution  would 
be  made  relative  to  the  vividness  of  a  particular  kind  of  imagery,  such 
as  the  visual  or  the  auditory,  into  the  four  groups,  very  vivid,  moderately 
vivid,  faint,  or  no  imagery  of  the  given  kind.  The  experimenter  in  recording 
the  fragments  placed  in  each  of  these  groups  would  get  from  the  subject 
a  detailed  introspective  report  on  the  given  imagery  that  had  been  noted 
on  reading  the  fragment.  In  this  case,  it  should  be  noted,  the  imagery  is 
called  back  and  reported  from  memory  in  contrast  to  the  direct  reports  of 
the  first  group. 

In  order  to  complete  the  reports  on  the  one  hundred  fragments  it 
required  two  experimental  sessions  each  for  the  reports  on  (i)  visual 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  7 

imagery,  (2)  auditory  imagery,  (3)  olfactory,  gustatory,  kinaesthetic  and 
organic  imagery.  Each  fragment  was  thus  read  three  times,  once  each 
for  the  three  different  imagery  reports.  An  interval  of  a  week  was  allowed 
in  every  case  to  elapse  before  a  fragment  was  reread.  In  spite  of  this 
lapse  of  time,  one  or  two  subjects  reported  that  the  imagery  on  rereading 
the  fragment  was  less  rich  than  on  the  first  reading.  So  far  as  this  is 
true,  the  reports  on  visual  imagery  have  the  advantage  while  those  on 
olfactory,  gustatory,  organic  and  kinaesthetic  images  suffer  to  the  great- 
est degree. 

It  was  sought  to  get  very  definite  reports  on  the  visual  imagery  called 
up  by  each  fragment.     To  aid  the  report  the  following  points  were  type- 
written and  placed  before  the  subject: 
Report  on  Visual  Imagery. 

Character  of  the  visual  images? 

Color  ?     Form  ?     Background  ? 

Movement  seen? 

Size  of  Image  ?    Location  relative  to  observer  ? 

Fancy  Image? 

Memory  Image?    If  memory  image,  give  date  of  original  impression. 

2.     FREQUENCY  OF  DIFFERENT  FORMS  OF  CONCRETE  IMAGERY. 

The  frequency  with  which  the  different  forms  of  imagery  occurred 
with  visual  reading  for  each  reagent  of  both  the  first  and  the  second  group 
is  shown  in  Tables  I  and  III.  It  is  interesting  to  compare  these  tables 
in  an  attempt  to  determine  how  far  the  difference  in  method  influenced  the 
reports. 

A  comparison  of  the  figures  for  each  sort  of  imagery  is  instructive. 
Since  there  were  seven  reagents  in  the  first  group  and  five  in  the  second, 
and  the  latter  reported  on  one  hundred  fragments  and  the  former  on  one 
hundred  and  ten,  the  frequency  of  each  form  of  imagery  in  Table  III 
should  approximate  50/77  of  its  frequency  in  Table  I,  unless  the  individual 
differences  or  the  difference  in  method  have  caused  variation.  If  we 
compare  the  tables  with  this  proportion  in  mind,  we  find  that  the  number 
of  auditory,  olfactory,  and  gustatory  images  in  Table  III  is  proportionally 
much  higher  than  that  in  Table  I.  To  a  certain  extent  the  excess  of 
such  auditory  images  in  the  second  table  is  due  to  individual  differences, 
since  all  the  subjects  of  the  Chicago  group  reported  auditory  images  with 
considerable  frequency  while  at  least  one  subject  of  the  Wyoming  group 
found  auditory  imagery  a  negligible  quantity.  Partly,  however,  the  method 
is  a  determining  factor,  since,  no  doubt,  the  separate  reports  on  visual  and 
auditory  imagery  served  to  throw  the  latter  into  clear  relief. 

L/s  excessive  number  of  olfactory  images  explains  the  discrepancy 
relative  to  olfactory  imagery  and  individual  differences  that  relative  to 
gustatory  imagery.  The  number  of  visual,  optical-kinaesthetic,  tactual, 
temperature,  and  pain  images  is,  proportionally,  very  similar  for  the  two 
tables.  The  excess  of  organic  and  posture  images  for  the  first  group  and 
of  movement  images  for  the  second  group  is  probably  to  be  explained  on 
the  ground  of  individual  differences.  On  the  whole,  considering  the  pos- 
sible divergency  arising  from  individual  differences,  the  agreement  between 
the  two  tables  is  rather  striking. 

A  comparison  of  the  number  of  images  aroused  in  the  same  subjects 
by  hearing  forty  fragments  read  aloud  with  the  number  aroused  by  visual 
reading  (Tables  I  and  II)  shows  that  there  is  a  slightly  higher  percent- 
age of  certain  kinds  of  images  with  visual  presentation  than  there  is  with 
auditory  presentation,  a  result  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  greater 


s 


Tin:  I M. \GINAL  RK.UTIOX  TO  POETRY. 


time  given  to  the  visual  reading  favored  the  development  of  latent  imagery. 
<  >n  the  other  hand,  the  auditory  series  showed  the  effect  of  practice,  a 
fact  which  probably  accounts  for  the  relatively  greater  proportion  <>t 
kinaesthetic  and  optical-kinaesthetic  images  reported  in  the  auditory  series. 

Relative  to  auditory  images,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  they  are  proportion- 
ately much  fewer  in  number  in  the  auditory  than  in  the  visual  sent 
result  that  might  have  been  anticipated  since  auditory  sensation  constitute. 
no  doubt,  a  greater  obstacle  to  the  arousal  of  auditory  imagery  than  does 
the  auditory  verbal  imagery  of  inner  speech.  In  one  case  only  (B)  i- 
there  evidence  of  a  reversal  of  this  relation,  an  observation  of  particular 
interest,  since  B,  to  a  higher  degree  than  any  other  subject,  reported  pre- 
occupation with  the  auditory  aspect  of  inner  speech.  (See  I.  5.) 

A  detailed  comparison  of  these  tables  with  that  of  Miss  Martin'^ 
(10:7),  which  gives  the  frequency  of  the  various  forms  of  pseudo->m- 
sations  aroused  hy  the  contemplation  of  pictures  would  scarcely  be  of 
value,  so  different  is  the  situation  utilized.  Two  interesting  observations 
are,  however,  evident.  The  first  is  the  greater  frequency  of  posture  and 
kinaesthetic  material  when  pictures  are  used  as  tiie  aesthetic  material ; 
the  second  is  the  greater  frequency  with  which  auditory  images  are  reported 
when  poetry  is  the  art  in  question.  Again,  such  a  result  might  have  been 
anticipated.  In  general,  the  investigation  suggests  a  method  by  which 
we  may  determine  the  value  of  poetic  suggestion  in  comparison  with  that 
of  other  art- forms. 

Apparently,  more  vivid  pseudo-sensations  were  aroused  by  contem- 
plation of  pictures  than  by  reading  poetry.  As  Miss  Martin  urges  (10:  59), 
a  number  of  transitional  forms  between  sensations  and  images  must  be 
recognized,  and  many  of  the  reactions  reported  by  her  subjects  were  more 
definitely  sensational  than  imaginal.  The  reagents  of  the  present  test  re- 
ported many  organic  and  kinaesthetic  sensations  and  an  occasional  auditory 
or  olfactory  hallucination.  On  the  whole,  however,  their  reactions  were 
definitely  imaginal  in  the  accepted  sense  of  the  term. 

TABLE  I.— (Wyoming  Subjects.) 
MMBKR  OF  IMAGES.    110  FRAGMENTS.  READ  SILENTLY,  (VISUAL  PRESENTATION). 


I 

Auditory 

t 

0 

Gustatory 

Tactual 

Temperature 

a 

z 

Organic 

Klnaestbetlc 

£ 
* 

n 

11 

i= 

« 

1 

I 

i 

A 
» 
O 
D 

P 

57 
21 
27 
20 
78 
6 
S» 

28 
8 
0 
8 
15 
4 
6 

8 
1 
1 
8 

1 
0 
1 

40 

j 

1 
i: 

10 
8 
16 

21 

s 

'! 

10 

3 
2 

1 

7 
2 
0 
8 

85 
20 
8 
28 
12 
18 
22 

18 
18 
8 
85 
IT 
22 
18 

14             19 
1(1             80 
1              8 
47            50 
8            86 
10            11 
14             41 

100 
101 
108 
86 
100 
61 

too 

812 
180 
148 
M 
2» 
127 
240 

Total.  . 

261 

81 

12 

M 

21 

141 

118 

110           105 

1 

664 

1580 

•Note  1:— Optfcal-klnaeMhetlc  Image*  are  not  Included  In  I  he  total  number. 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 

TABLE  II.— (Wyoming  Subjects.) 
NUMBER  OF  IMAGES.    40  FRAGMENTS,  HEARD  READ  (AUDITORY  PRESENTATION). 


Kinaesthetic 

£ 

~ 

. 

K 

3 

«* 

£ 

a 

e 

o 

1 

J5 

"a 

3 

| 

"a 

§ 

S 

1 

3 

si 

"3 

i. 

• 

i 

"3 
1 

a 
0 

3 
O 

1 

5 

1      . 

O 

£ 

O 

1 

I 

P 

JO 

1 

A 

14 

9 

0 

10 

5 

i 

7 

15 

13 

17 

52 

126 

B 

14 

3 

0 

5 

3 

2 

8 

5 

8 

17 

43 

91 

C 

7 

1 

0 

3 

2 

0 

4 

0 

2 

17 

48 

67 

D 

4 

1 

0 

1 

4 

0 

7 

11 

23 

10 

30 

81 

E 

20 

S 

0 

4 

3 

0     - 

4 

7 

1 

26 

40 

82 

F 

2 

1 

0 

0 

1 

0 

1 

9 

6 

6 

32 

52 

G 

-.7 

5 

0 

6 

6 

0 

5 

4 

5 

28 

41 

89 

Total.  . 

78 

23 

0 

29 

24 

3 

36 

51 

58 

121 

286 

588 

•Note  2:— Optical-kinaesthetic  images  are  not  included  in  the  total  number. 

TABLE  III.— (Chicago  Subjects.) 
NUMBER  OF  IMAGES.    100  FRAGMENTS,  READ  SILENTLY,  (VISUAL  PRESENTATION). 


Kinaesthetic 

o 

2 

Reagent 

Auditory 

Olfactory 

Gustatory 

•  Tactual 

Temperatu 

a 

a 

£ 

& 

"5 

§ 

o 

Posture 

Movement 

Optic  a  1- 
Klnaesthe 

"3 

s 

00 

> 

»_ 

1 

E-i 

I 

33 

6 

3 

10 

10 

2 

3 

1 

32 

43 

104 

204 

J 

57 

7 

3 

8 

9 

2 

37 

8 

26 

47 

103 

260 

K 

26 

8 

1 

3 

0 

0 

3 

0 

8 

19 

62 

111 

L 

78 

41 

2 

47 

21 

4 

20 

10 

17 

19 

84 

284 

M 

31 

7 

1 

7 

0 

2 

11 

9 

28 

7 

42 

1S8 

Total.. 

225 

69 

10 

75 

40 

10 

74 

28 

111 

135 

395 

997 

•Note  3:— Optical-kinaesthetic  images  are  not  included  in  the  total  number. 


3.     CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  FORMS  OF  CONCRETE  IMAGERY. 

a.     Visual  and  Optical-Kinaesthetic  Imagery. 

Although  for  every  reagent  visual  images  were  more  frequent  than 
any  other  kind  of  image,  the  excess  of  such  images  varied  greatly  from 
subject  to  subject.  Thus  the  proportion  of  visual  images  to  the  whole 
number  of  images  ranges  from  30.4  per  cent,  for  M  to  71  per  cent,  for  C. 

Even  more  noticeable  than  individual  differences  in  the  frequency  of 
the  visual  image  were  the  individual  differences  with  respect  to  its  vivid- 
ness, determination,  detail,  concreteness,  particularity,  and  localization.  The 
vivid  visualizations  of  A,  E,  K,  and  J  were  in  striking  contrast  to  the 
vague  fleeting  visual  images  of  D,  F,  L,  and  M. 

A's  visual  imagery  was  vivid  and  concrete,  but  neither  particularized 
nor  detailed.  Very  often  she  reported  a  rapid  shift  from  one  picture  to 
another.  A  fragment  that  she  was  unable  to  visualize  was  apt  to  remain 
unmeaning.  Repeated  suggestion  of  imagery  was  fatiguing  and  unpleas- 
ant. Her  images  appeared  with  a  rich  background,  of  which  more  will 
be  said  later. 

B's  visual  imagery  on  occasion  became  exceedingly  vivid.  Its  striking 
characteristic  was  its  unexpectedness,  very  often  its  grotesqueness. 

For  example,  "The  visual  imagery  in  this  fragment  consisted  in  seeing 
a  blade  of  grass  with  many  other  blades  about  it  and  a  large  bee  who  had 
a  tiny  skirt  which  hung  from  his  waist."  (Fragment  19.) 


io  THK  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 

Color  and  light  were  prominent  features  of  B's  visualization.  Such 
adjectives  as  sparkling,  starry,  glimmering,  gleaming,  shimmering,  gloomy, 
dark  occurred  with  great  frequency  in  his  report- 

C's  visual  images  were  highly  particularized.  He  would  image,  for 
example,  not  a  river  in  general,  but  the  Mississippi  or  Laramie  river  in 
particular,  although  nothing  in  the  context  would  suggest  such  specialization. 
A  definite  localization  occurred  with  great  frequency.  Often  C  utilized 
features  of  his  present  environment  in  particularizing  such  localization.  An 
imaged  person  was,  for  example,  placed  in  given  room  in  the  building 
where  the  tests  were  carried  on.  For  landscapes,  C  utilized  as  setting 
two  favorite  canyons  near  his  home.  A  fixation  of  visual  images  which 
then  become  material  to  be  used  in  many  connections  is  characteristic  of 
C's  mental  processes.  The  images  constructed,  for  instance,  on  a  first 
reading  of  "Ben  Hur"  or  "The  Lady  of  the  Lake"  have  become  a  per- 
manent possession  used  for  mental  illustration  of  many  situations. 

D's  visual  images  were  not  only  proportionately  less  frequent,  but 
also  much  less  vivid  and  detailed  than  those  of  the  majority  of  reagents. 
The  type,  not  the  individual,  characteristics  were  pronounced  in  the  image. 
Landscapes  were,  however,  visualized  in  greater  detail  than  were  persons 
and  colors  were  vividly  seen.  Localized  and  particularized  images  were 
rare.  Often  a  visual  image  was  reduced  to  a  mere  flash  or  glimmer. 

For  example:  "With  'sigh'  there  was  a  suppressed  tendency  to  sigh. 
Then  I  saw  the  'moans'  flying  above  me.  They. are  round  like  O's  and 
grey.  They  'sort  of  fall  and  vanish  at  the  last.  Very  fleeting  optical- 
kinaesthetic  imagery."  (Fragment  4.) 

Probably  the  most  characteristic  feature  of  D's  visualizations  was  the 
amount  of  movement  seen.  Visual  imagery  almost  always  involved  the 
seeing  of  movement.  Very  often  the  visual  imagery  appeared  to  be  merely 
an  objectification  of  a  movement,  so  attenuated  was  the  visual  content, 
and  yet  the  movement  was  distinctly  felt  to  be  visual  as  distinguished  from 
felt  movement.  Thus  the  wind  was  visualized  as  an  undulatory  move- 
ment flashing  past  at  the  level  of  the  eyes.  Consciousness  of  the  eyes  and 
of  eye-movement  was  very  pronounced  and,  apparently,  the  latter  was  often 
objectified  and  gave  optical-kinaesthetic  imagery. 

This  visual  objectification  of  movement  by  D  distinguishes  her  optical- 
kinaesthetic  imagery  from  that  of  other  subjects.  A's  optical-kinaesthetic 
imagery  is  most  pronounced  where  there  is  distinct  shift  from  one  scene 
to  another.  For  C,  movement  enters  the  visualized  scene  slowly  and  with 
deliberation  and  may  be  confined  to  small  portion  of  the  imagery.  Thus, 
he  may  see  a  man  slowly  drawing  on  a  glove  or  the  fall  of  a  leaf.  The 
same  observation  holds  true  for  E  and  G. 

Both  E  and  G  reported  visual  imagery  of  considerable  vividness.  G's 
images  were  remarkable  for  the  amount  of  detail  reported. 

F's  visual  images  were  frequently  mere  visual  schema  which  she  de- 
scribed as  abstract  and  general  rather  than  specific.  Usually,  when  they 
were  of  moderate  vividness  and  precision,  they  were  identified  as  mem- 
ory images. 

With  I,  visual  imagery  was  both  frequent  and  vivid.  A  noticeable 
feature  of  his  imagery  was  the  fact  that  it  appeared  in  a  series  of  frag- 
ments. A  situation  was  usually  visualized  bit  by  bit  rather  than  as  a  whole. 
These  images  were  frequently  seen  in  black  and  "white. 

K's  visual  images  were  very  vivid.  She  reported  that  she  was  abte 
to  project  visual  images  so  clearly  as  to  be  able  to  draw  them  and  that 
she  has  a  remarkable  visual  memory.  K  frequently  made  use  in  her  vis- 
ualization of  a  memory  of  a  picture.  Sometimes  the  picture  would  be 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  n 

seen  in  picture  fashion ;  sometimes  it  would  be  converted  into  a  life-sized 
reproduction. 

J's  visual  images  were  nearly  as  vivid  as  those  of  K's  and  even  more 
precise.  The  most  distinctive  feature  of  his  report  was,  however,  the  defi- 
niteness  with  which  he  was  able  to  state  the  localization  of  his  images  and 
the  frequency  with  which  he  projected  himself  visually  into  the  imaged 
scene.  The  distance  at  which  J  conceived  his  imaged  objects  to  lie  varied 
from  a  few  feet  to  several  hundred  yards.  Reduced  figures  were  asso- 
ciated with  long  distances  but  figures  exaggerated  in  size  occurred  with 
near  localization.  J's  localization  of  his  visualized  self  was  also  very 
definite ;  so,  too,  was  his  orientation  as  observer  of  this  visualized  self. 

L's  visual  imagery  was  meagre,  faint,  and  of  much  less  importance 
than  her  imagery  from  the  other  senses.  The  latter  imagery  usually  pre- 
ceded and  called  out  the  visual  image.  In  visualization,  a  whole  scene 
rarely  took  form ;  detached  visual  bits  appeared  in  flashes.  In  L's  visual- 
ization, color  was  of  much  greater  consequence  than  was  form.  A  flash 
of  isolated  color  may  constitute  the  whole  visual  content. 

For  example :  "Color  yellow ;  no  banner.  Optical  movement  in  air 
at  roof-height,  but  no  roof."  (Fragment  14.) 

Of  all  the  subjects  of  both  groups,  M's  visual  images  were  most  attenu- 
ated. He  would,  for  instance,  report  a  visual  image  which  was  identified 
as  visual  only  because  of  a  feeling  of  objectivity.  At  times  a  flash  of  color 
would  constitute  the  whole  visual  material.  Form  was  usually  given  in 
kinaesthetic  terms. 

b.    Auditory  Imagery. 

The  individual  variation  in  frequency  of  auditory  images  was  very 
great,  ranging  -numerically  from  5  to  78  and  in  proportion  of  number  of 
auditory  images  to  total  number  of  images  from  about  4  per  cent.  (F)  to 
30  (E). 

As  was  true  for  visual  images,  the  characteristics  of  such  imagery  are 
more  significant  than  its  frequency. 

Vivid  auditory  images  were  reported  by  B,  E,  J,  and  L.  F's  auditory 
images  were  few  in  number  and  doubtful  in  quality.  C  and  D  also  had 
difficulty  in  identifying  such  images. 

B's  auditory  images,  although  not  great  in  number  on  account  of  his 
pre-occupation  with  the  auditory  aspect  of  inner  speech,  were  of  great 
vividness.  B  is  musical  and  very  much  interested  in  auditory  content. 
Things  heard  impress  him  much  more  than  things  seen.  During  the  ex- 
periment concrete  auditory  images  of  hallucinatory  vividness  were  reported. 

In  illustration,  we  have  the  following:  "I  caught  the  sound  of  a  voice 
singing  and  although  it  vanished  immediately  I  was  sure  that  I  had  heard 
a  real  voice  and  I  listened  again."  (Fragment  30.) 

Also,  "I  saw  a  little  brown  man  sitting  at  the  base  of  an  oak  tree  moan- 
ing 'full  drearily.'  I  am  quite  sure  that  I  heard  his  moaning  for  it  startled 
me  as  if  someone  had  really  moaned."  (Fragment  33.) 

Sometimes  B  would  hear  a  whok  fragment  read  to  an  auditory  ac- 
companiment, an  accompaniment  which  would  persist  even  after  the  close 
of  the  reading. 

B  shows  a  pronounced  case  of  colored  gustation  (6),  but  so  far  as  he 
could  recall  he  had  never  experienced  colored  audition.  It  was,  therefore, 
to  his  surprise  that  during  these  tests  he  several  times  experienced  a  fusion 
of  auditory  and  color  content,  always,  it  should  be  noted,  on  the  imaginal 
level,  in  contrast  to  his  colored  gustation  which  is  a  matter  of  percept- 
ual fusion. 


12  Tin:  l.\i  \t.i\\i.  KKUTION  TO  I'OKTKY. 

For  example:  "This  fragment  called  before  my  mind  the  color  blue 
and  as  I  read  it  I  -aw  clouds  with  Heecy  rifts  through  which  I  could  see 
the  blue,  not  of  the  sky,  hut  of  the  music."  i  Fragment  75.1  (cf.  with 
K's  report-,  i 

<  >f  all  the  subjects.  K  reported  the  greatest  proportion  of  auditory 
images  \\hich  were  often  of  considerable  vividness,  ;i>  shown  by  the  fol- 
lowing report : 

"The  image  of  a  heavy  storm  approaching. — indicated  by  the  still  dark 
day  and  by  the  black  clouds  in  the  sky.  Auditory  images  of  the  roaring 
wind  far-off  and  of  loud  claps  of  thunder.  The  thunder  is  so  vivid  that  1 
actually  blinked  my  eyes."  (Fragment  68.) 

The  most  distinctive  feature  of  E's  imaginal  world  was.  however,  the 
frequency  with  which  she  translated  sound  into  visual  terms.  This  tend- 
ency, as  that  described  for  B,  exemplifies  synaesthetic*  fusion  at  the  imaginal 
level.  The  following  examples  show  the  character  of  E's  translation : 

"Visual  image  of  an  angel  just  disappearing  in  the  heavens.  Auditory 
image  of  music  which  seems  to  be  following  the  angel  in  a  stream  of  light." 
(Fragment  91. ) 

"Visual  image  of  the  interior  of  a  large  church  with  a  pipe-organ. 
Auditory  image  of  the  music  which  is  first  soft  and  seems  like  a  white 
streak  of  light  just  above  the  organ:  then  the  loud  thunderous  music, 
which  changes  into  a  dark  cloud."  (Fragment  103.) 

In  every  case  but  one  the  translation  is  from  music  into  light.  In 
the  one  exception  the  color  changes  into  music. 

"Through  the  open  door  are  streaming  waves  of  white,  blue  and  pink 
light,  which  I  hear  as  sweet,  soft  music."  (Fragment  105.) 

J  has  vivid  auditory  images  which  are,  however,  subordinate  to  hi- 
visual  images.  The  latter  give  the  former  localization  and  setting.  J  wa- 
able  to  describe  particular  auditory  images  with  great  precision.  He  was 
able,  for  instance,  to  show,  by  whistling,  the  difference  between  two  wind 
images. 

L's  auditory  images  were  much  more  vivid  than  her  visual  images  but 
these  auditory  images  were  often  preceded  by  cutaneous  images  which 
gave  them  localization.  L  was  more  apt  to  image  noises  such  as  the  crackling 
of  leaves  and  of  ice.  the  clang  of  armor  and  the  rustle  of  starched  skirts  than 
to  image  tones.  The  tests  left  the  ears  tingling;  innervation  was  evident, 
with  noticeable  strain  localized  in  the  drum. 

M's  auditory  images  were  more  vivid  than  his  visual  images.  At  times. 
he  reported,  such  images  attain  great  vividness  but  such  vividness  is  not  to 
be  attained  by  voluntary  effort.  In  the  case  of  imaged  music,  especially, 
he  must  wait  the  whim  of  the  moment.  Auditory  images  were  not  localized, 
although  a  number  of  times  particularized  and  given  a  memory  setting. 
Once  or  twice.  M  was  puzzled  in  attempting  to  determine  whether  or  not 
true  auditory  quality  was  given  in  a  particular  content  which  had  auditory 
significance. 

He  reports,  "Abstract  image  of  auditory  content.  No  particular  image. 
Auditory  experience,  just  quality  without  intensity.  N'o  localization.  Hard 
to  describe."  ( Fragment  46. ) 

K.  C,  and  H  found  their  auditory  images  in  no  way  comparable  to 
their  visual  images  for  vividness  or  importance.  Such  images  occurred  in 
a  visual  setting  which  gave  them  their  localization.  A's  auditory  images 
although  of  considerable  vividness  were  also  definitely  subordinated  to  her 
visual  images. 

•Not.-  4:—  Sjrnaenthesla  and  the  adjeetlve  *jrna<«thftlr.  are  In  thte  itudy  u»ed  to  rrfrr  to  •  transla- 
tion of  one  seni>e-<]ualJtr  Into  another,  and  not  m»  br  HIM  Martin  In  "t>ber  aenthrtlwtw 
for  the  arousal  of  an  auditory  or  other  paeudo-wot  itlon  a*  part  of  a  visual  percept. 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  13 

D  is  highly  interested  in  auditory  content  and  is  much  more  sensitive 
to  the  auditory  than  to  the  visual  arts,  but  except  for  the  auditory  aspect 
of  inner  speech,  auditory  content  does  not  play  a  great  part  in  her  reactions 
to  poetry.  An  auditory  suggestion  would  almost  invariably  bring  on  the 
attitude  of  auditory  attention  with  distinct  consciousness  of  strain  in  the 
ears,  but  usually  would  develop  little  true  auditory  'content.  With  the 
induction  of  auditory  attention,  consciousness  would  at  once  be  besieged 
in  the  most  distressing  way  by  sounds  in  the  immediate  environment,  such 
as  the  hissing  of  the  steam-pipes,  the  ticking  of  a  watch,  or  the  murmur 
of  the  wind.  In  listening  to  a  speaker,  D  is  often  obsessed  in  a  similar  way 
by  the  sheer  auditory  quality  of  the  voice. 

Auditory  images  F  experiences  with  great  in  frequency  and  then  appar- 
ently only  spontaneously,  as  she  was  unable  to  call  them  up  by  effort.  F 
often  reported  a  failure  of  auditory  imagery  with  a  definite  consciousness 
of  auditory  meaning.  Sometimes  she  inferred  sound  from  the  visual  pre- 
sentation. Thus  the  movement  of  the  lips  of  a  speaker  or  the  waving  of 
handkerchiefs  on  the  part  of  a  cheering  multitude  were  sufficient  to  convey 
the  auditory  meaning.  Again,  auditory  content  was  translated  into  kin- 
aesthetic  terms.  L  reported  that  she  does  not  imagine  music  in  auditory 
terms  but  she  "feels"  that  she  has  just  heard  music.  * 

She  writes :  "I  do  not  hear  it  thunder,  but  I  have  a  distinct  feeling 
that  it  has  thundered."  (Fragment  68.) 

On  one  occasion  F  reported  that  she  heard  the  echo  of  a  trumpet  rather 
than  the  trumpet  itself.  A  rather  odd  statement  of  the  feeling  of  auditory- 
attention  without  definite  auditorv  quality  is  found  in  the  following  state- 
ment: "I  have  just  heard  a  funeral  dirge  but  I  do  not  hear  it  now.  I  never 
have  an  auditory  image  at  the  present  moment." 

c.     Olfactory  and  Gustatory  Imagery. 

Olfactory  imagery  was  important  only  in  the  case  of  A,  E,  and  L. 

A's  olfactory  images  were  both  profuse  and  vivid.  Such  images  she 
ranks  in  vividness  next  to  her  visual  and  cutaneous  images.  The  odor  of 
grass  and  leaves  and  flowers  is  for  A  an  essential  part  of  every  landscape, 
perceived  or  imagined.  She  ranks  such  images  high  on  the  aesthetic  side. 
Frequently  in  the  test  she  experienced  a  mixture  of  many  odors  and  in  at 
least  one  instance  an  olfactory  hallucination. 

E's  olfactory  images  were  also  frequent  and  vivid.  They  possessed, 
however,  much  less  aesthetic  value  than  those  of  A.  By  means  of  such 
images,  matter  of  fact  details  were  often  introduced  into  scene.  Thus  in  a 
banquet  scene  the  odor  reported  by  E  is  that  of  roast-beef ;  and  in  another 
scene  it  is  the  smell  of  cooking  cabbage ! 

The  frequency  with  which  L  reported  olfactory  imagery  was  surprising. 
For  L  such  imagery  was  an  essential  part  in  the  aesthetic  and  affective 
reaction. 

Of  the  other  subjects,  B  found  difficulty  in  distinguishing  olfactory 
from  organic  content.  The  oppression  that  accompanies  the  heavy  odor  of 
hyacinths  is,  for  example,  more  easily  identified  than  the  true  olfactory 
imagery. 

Four  of  D's  olfactory  images  occurred  on  the  same  day,  were  similar  in 
quality,  and  of  hallucinatory  vividness.  It  was  thought  that  the  apparent 
images  must  be  due  to  the  presence  of  some  slight  stimulation  which  be- 
came evident  whe.n  once  the  olfactory  attention  was  induced.  Many  weeks 
later,  however,  on  rereading  these  fragments,  D  experienced  the  same  hal- 
lucination. In  general,  D  is  unable  to  image  odors  voluntarily,  although 
such  images  when  they  occur  spontaneously  are  of  great  vividness. 


14  Tin:  I  .\i.\r.i x.\i.  Kru  rio.v  TO  POETRY. 

Gustatory  images  were  of  little  significance  in  these  reactions,  since 
only  22  were  reported  by  both  groups,  during  the  whole  course  of  the  ex- 
periment. 

d.    Cutaneous  Imagery. 

Such  imagery  was  significant  for  A,  D,  E,  G,  and  L.  L  showed  a  pre- 
occupation with  cutaneous  material  that,  in  the  writer's  experience,  i>  very 
unusual.  A,  it  is  true,  gave  nearly  as  great  a  number  of  cutaneous  images, 
but  such  images  in  A's  case  were  subordinated  to  visual  images,  while  in  the 
case  of  L,  cutaneous  images  constitute  the  core  of  the  imaginal  reaction. 
Thus  L  reported  that  flowers  were  imaged  primarily  in  cutaneous  terms, — 
the  felt  texture  of  the  flower-petal,  the  felt  roughness  of  the  stem  being  the 
essential  factors.  These  tactile  images  of  L's  seemed  capable  of  being  ob- 
jectified in  a  most  peculiar  way. 

Subsidiary  to  cutaneous  images  there  appeared,  in  imaging  a  flower  for 
instance,  olfactory  images,  while  the  visual  side  might  be  reduced  to  a  mere 
flash  of  color.  Even  auditory  content  was  subordinated  to  cutaneous.  The 
cutaneous  image  of  the  wind  precedes  and  arouses  the  auditory  image.  A 
"rustling  curtain"  is  first  fingered,  then  heard. 

The  nature  of  L's  imagery  is  shown  by  the  following  report :  "Odor 
of  sunflower.  Cutaneous  feeling  of  roughness  on  face  and  hand.  Warmth 
of  sun  felt;  coolness  from  snow.  Contrast  between  warmth  and  cold 
makes  one  shiver.  Contrast  too  strong  to  be  pleasant."  (Fragment  37.  i 

With  A  the  cutaneous  image  of  the  wind  is  a  favorite  image.  In  the 
course  of  the  experiments  she  reported  eighteen  images  of  the  wind.  Her 
backgrounds  are  enlivened  by  its  presence.  A  also  reported  empathic  cu- 
taneous images,  such  as  the  feeling  of  plunging  her  hand  into  cool  clover 
or  dewy  grass. 

D  showed  some  tendency  to  translate  touch-content  into  visual  terms. 
She  is  the  only  reagent  of  either  group  who  makes  the  translation  suggested 
by  Keats  in  the  phrase,  "Touching  with  dazzled  lips  her  starlight  hand." 

The  report  on  this  fragment  reads:  "Vague  image  of  a  dark  form 
sinking  to  its  knees.  Then  a  feeling  of  light  on  the  lips  which  burn  and 
visual  picture  of  a  white  and  bright  hand.  I  actually  seem  to  touch  light 
with  my  lips.  Throughout  there  is  a  feeling  of  visual  dazzle,  localized  on 
lips."  (Fragment  10.) 

c.    Organic  and  Pain  Reaction. 

Miss  Martin  (10:11)  classified  the  organic  sensations  reported  by  her 
reagents  into  two  groups :  ( I )  Those  aroused  directly  through  suggestions 
given  by  the  picture;  and  (2)  Those  that  express  the  affective  reaction  to 
the  picture  as  a  whole,  the  pleasure  or  repulsion  that  it  arouses. 

Such  a  distinction  in  the  organic  reactions  was  also  possible  in  the 
present  test.  C,  for  instance,  often  spoke  of  an  organic  thrill  accompanying 
the  reading  of  certain  very  pleasurable  fragments  or  of  a  shiver  of  repulsion 
induced  by  the  arousal  of  some  exceedingly  disagreeable  object  of  thought. 
The  most  frequent  organic  reaction  reported  by  J  was  that  of  organic 
chokiness,  a  sensation  significant  of  his  emotional  reaction  to  the  whole 
fragment  rather  than  a  matter  of  reaction  to  a  specific  suggestion.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  his  tendency  to  increased  salivation. 

The  organic  sensations  most  easily  aroused  by  suggestion  were  those 
of  drowsiness,  nausea,  and  dizziness.  Such  suggestions  were  effective  for 
all  but  one  or  two  reagents. 

They  were  particularly  effective  for  D.  D  reported  also  respiratory 
quickening  and  a  peculiar  feeling  of  lightness,  of  ascension,  of  floating.  A 
feeling  of  trance,  also  reported  frequently,  was,  apparently,  due  to  uncon- 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  15 

verged  eyes.  In  her  case,  cardiac  consciousness  was  made  acute  by  every 
reference  to  the  heart,  however  unemphatic  that  reference  might  be ;  while 
an  emphasized  reference  of  this  kind  induced  a  distinct  feeling  of  suffocation. 

G  and  L,  also  reported  frequent  consciousness  of  cardiac  sensations. 
With  L,  these  cardiac  reactions  were  too  strong  to  be  pleasant. 

B's  most  characteristic  organic  reaction  was  that  of  actual  perspiration 
of  hands ;  he  also  reported  feelings  of  suffocation. 

Sensations  of  pain  were  frequently  aroused  by  suggestion,  most  notice- 
ably in  the  case  of  D.  Miss  Martin  found  that  such  pain  was  often  localized 
in  some  weak  or  formerly  injured  part  of  the  body  (10:10).  Several 
instances  of  such  localization  were  noticed  in  the  present  investigation. 
Pain  localized  in  the  eyes  was  frequently  reported  by  D,  whose  eyes  are  weak, 
and,  very  noticeably,  on  one  occasion  by  C  at  a  time  of  temporary  eye- 
trouble.  B  localized  pain  at  the  back  of  the  neck  where  he  was  troubled  with 
an  abscess ;  ,  and  L  Ipcalized  pain  in  the  heart-region  and  reported  that  she 
had  experienced  previously  serious  cardiac  trouble. 

/.     Kinaesthetic  Reaction. 

Kinaesthetic  reactions  either  in  the  form  of  an  imaginal  posture  or 
imaginal  movement  or  in  the  form  of  actual  sensation  of  movement  or  pos- 
ture was  a  very  significant  factor  in  the  reports  of  D  (over  32  per  cent,  of 
the  total  number  of  images)  ;  F  (over  25  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of 
images)  ;  and  of  M  (over  26  per  cent,  of  the  total  number). 

For  D  the  reaction  to  a  fragment  was,  frequently,  chiefly  in  the  form  of 
kinaesthesis,  imaginal  or  actual. 

For  example,  "  'On'  is  the  key-word.  The  inner  speech  dwells  on  it. 
I  strike  a  posture,  breath  held  slightly.  There  seems  to  be  a  slight  move- 
ment in  the  eyes  as  if  accommodating  themselves  for  distant  vision.  Also 
a  slight  visual  streak  from  the  eyes  out.  'Flared'  involves  a  kinaesthetic 
feeling  of  the  mouth  cavity  being  extended  and  distended  as  with  light. 
With  'stately'  there  is  a  fleeting  posture;  then  a  kinaesthetic  feeling  of 
moving  on  and  on.  The  last  line  gives  a  feeling  of  opening  the  eyes  wide. 
There  is  release  of  tension  and  respiratory  expansion."  (Fragment  6.) 

Consciousness  of  eye-movement  was  very  pronounced  for  D  and 
other  movements  were  frequently  localized  in  the  eyes. 

Kinaesthetic  content  is,  in  general,  very  essential  in  F's  reactions. 
At  times,  movements,  easily  perceivable  by  an  observer,  fail  to  come  to  con- 
sciousness and  under  such  circumstances  F  finds  difficulty  in  reporting  her 
reaction.  During  silent  reading  articulatory  movements  were  very  apparent 
and  often  the  rhythm  of  a  fragment  was  beat  with  the  hand. 

M's  meaning  is  frequently  carried  by  kinaesthetic  material.  Kinaes- 
thetic empathy  was  frequently  reported  by  him.  He  identified  himself  kin- 
aesthetically  with  waving  flowers,  jumping  grasshoppers,  palpitating  trees 
and  the  like.  Miss  Martin  observed  that  difficult  or  novel  movements  were 
more  apt  to  be  represented  visually  than  felt  kinaesthetically.  Most  reagents 
see  the  movements  of  an  animal  rather  than  feel  them  in  person.  This  ob- 
servation which  held  for  other  subjects  of  the  present  test  did  not  apply 
to  M,  whose  capacity  for  sympathetic  imitation  was  very  extensive. 

Miss  Martin  (10:13)  has  emphasized  the  temperamental  difference 
shown  in  a  tendency,  on  the  one  hand,  to  experience  localized  kinaesthetic 
images  or  sensations,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  to  objectify  such  imagery  in 
optical-kinaesthetic  form.  The  person  characterized  by  the  former  tendency 
is  thought  to  live  in  a  subjective  world;  the  latter,  to  live  in  an  outer 
objective  world. 

A  comparison  of  the  figures  in  the  tables  (I,  II,  III)  shows  optical- 
kinaesthetic  imagery  in  excess  of  felt  kinaesthesis  (both  movement  and 


16  THE  IMACINAL  REACTION  TO  POKTKY. 

posture)  in  the  case  of  K,  J,  C,  E,  G,  and,  very  slightly,  in  the  case  of  B 
and  I ;  A,  D,  F,  L,  and  M  show  an  excess  of  felt  posture  and  movement. 
Of  these  persons,  it  is  very  evident  that  K,  for  example,  is  exceedingly 
objective-minded  and  very  unemotional,  while  L  is  exceedingly  emotional 
and  more  personal  in  her  attitude  toward  her  environment.  D  and  F  would 
definitely  be  classed  as  subjective  in  type. 

D's  case  is  of  particular  interest,  since  she  gives  a  very  high  number  of 
both  kinds  of  images.  Apparently,  however,  the  optical-kinaesthetic  are 
translations  of  the  true  kinaesthetic  images  since  with  auditory  presentation, 
where  less  time  is  given  for  the  development  of  latent  imagery,  the  optical- 
kinaesthetic  images  are  greatly  reduced  in  number.  (See  Table  II.) 

4    GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION. 

During  the  course  of  the  experiment,  some  general  characteristics  of 
the  imagery  of  different  reagents  became  pronounced.  These  temperamental 
characteristics  of  the  imaginal  life  as  a  whole  must  be  of  utmost  importance 
in  the  determination  of  the  affective  and  aesthetic  reaction. 

a.    Utilisation  of  Memory  Material. 

The  extent  to  which  memory-material  in  an  unmodified  form  is  utilized 
is  one  of  such  characteristics. 

Probably  the  most  characteristic  feature  of  K's  imaginal  life  Is  the 
extent  to  which  she  employs  memory  material,  particularly  memory  of  very 
recent  experiences.  She  would  seem  to  live  very  much  in  the  present.  The 
visual  and  auditory  images  called  up  during  the  course  of  the  experiment 
were  in  nearly  half  the  cases  memory  images  with  a  very  definite  time  locali- 
zation. Nearly  two-thirds  of  such  memory  images  were  of  recent  experi- 
ences, usually  dating  back  but  two  or  three  days.  Every  one  of  the  eight 
olfactory  images  reported  possessed  a  definite  memory-setting,  although  in 
this  case  only  three  of  the  eight  images  represented  recent  experiences. 

J  also  made  much  use  of  memory  material.  Thus  35.9  per  cent,  of  his 
visual  images  were  reported  to  be  definite  memory-images.  But  in  contrast 
to  K.  J's  memory-images  were  reproductions  of  old  experiences,  referred, 
that  is,  to  a  date  more  than  a  year  back. 

I  also  furnished  a  large  number  of  memory  images,  26.1  per  cent.  Re- 
cent experience  was  here  important.  But  unlike  K,  who  reproduced  the 
recent  experience  in  detail,  I's  recent  memories  were  often  generic  rather 
than  specific,  that  is,  I  was  aware  that  the  image  was  a  reproduction  of  one 
or  more  recent  experiences  but  he  did  not  localize  the  memory  definitely  in 
time. 

C  gave  a  definite  place-localization  of  imagined  scenes,  as  has  already 
been  stated,  and  showed  a  tendency  to  stereotype  imaginal  material. 

Often  in  the  reports  from  different  subjects  the  reconstruction  of  mem- 
ory material  was  apparent ;  the  subject  reported  that  the  original  experience 
had  been  consciously  modified. 

Now  the  utilization,  to  any  extent,  of  unmodified  memory  material  or 
of  stereotyped  images  must  be  very  significant  of  the  type  of  mind.  The 
extent,  also,  to  which  one  uses  old,  habitual,  or  recent  experience  must  also 
be  of  great  importance. 

Binet  (3:1851")  found  in  his  tests  upon  his  daughters  that  the  utilization 
of  recent  experiences  was  characteristic  of  the  practical  observing  type  such 
as  his  daughter  Marguerite,  while  the  utilization  of  old  or  of  fluid  material 
characterized  the  more  poetical,  more  subjective  type,  as  exemplified  by  his 
daughter  Armande.  In  the  present  test  K,  who  made  precise  use  of  recent 
experience,  was  exceedingly  matter-of-fact  and  practical. 


THE  IMAGINAL.  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  17 

b.    The  Background. 

Another  interesting  individual  peculiarity  was  the  variation  in  the  rich- 
ness of  the  background  upon  which  the  various  images  appeared.  C,  as 
mentioned  above,  made  extensive  use  of  a  background,  -usually  an  habitual 
one  or  one  suggested  by  his  environment  of  the  moment.  A,  however,  laid 
greatest  stress  upon  her  imaginal  backgrounds.  They  were  in  a  sense  stereo- 
typed but  are  noteworthy  for  their  poetic  form  and  richness  of  tone-color. 

A  description  'at  some  length  in  A's  own  words  seems  worth  while.* 
"There  are  a  few  definite  visual  backgrounds.  The  foreground  or  center  of 
the  picture  I  fill  in  new  every  time,  but  the  surroundings  are  the  same  and 
include  about  as  much  as  I  could  really  see  if  I  were  looking  at  such  a  scene. 
The  colors,  sizes,  and  distances  are  very  realistic.  I  call  them  (the  back- 
grounds) visual,  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  think  there  is  none  that  does  not 
have  some  regular  accompaniment  of  warmth  or  coolness  or  wind  or  rain ; 
almost  all  include  olfactory  images  and  some  call  up  sound.  The  strongest 
images  are  in  the  order  given,  visual,  tactual,  olfactory,  and  auditory.  I 
think  there  is  always  a  feeling  of  my  position  and  sometimes  there  are  kin- 
aesthetic  images. 

"Any  clear  or  definite  picture  either  calls  up  one  of  these  backgrounds, 
or  else  makes  a  new  one  of  its  own.  A  confusing  description,  or  one  that  it 
is  hard  to  image,  has  no  background  at  all,  and  breaks  up  quickly. 

"(a)  The  most  common  background  is  a  meadow  or  meadows  filled  with 
flowers,  usually  white  clover.  There  are  a  few  rail-fences,  and  a  good  many 
little  woods  or  clumps  of  trees  in  the  rear  part  of  the  picture.  The  coun- 
try is  slightly  hilly,  and  there  is  a  blue  sky  with  some  light  clouds.  Every- 
thing is  bright  with  sunshine,  and  there  is  a  little  cool  breeze  that  sets  all1 
the  flowers  nodding.  Sometimes  I  hear  the  trees  rustling.  This  is  usually 
an  early  morning  picture.  [Utilized  for  fragments  2  (plus  rain),  3,  8  (plus 
rain),  49,  71,  and  84.] 

"(b)  This  is  a  variation  of  (a),  much  the  same  except  that  I  am  facing 
in  a  different  direction.  There  are  steeper  hills  and  the  woods  come  down 
almost  to  where  I  am  standing.  A  little  brook  flows  out  of  the  wood  and 
down  past  me,  through  the  meadow.  There  are  many  more  flowers  than 
in  (a)  ;  it  seems  to  be  earlier  in  the  spring  and  much  later  in  the  day. 
[Utilized  for  fragments  16,  19,  and  78.] 

"(c)  Every  sunrise  or  dawn  image  fits  into  a  picture  of  wild  hills  and 
blue  mountains  under  a  great  rosy  sunrise.  I  am  looking  straight  east, 
where  the  sun  comes  up  over  the  highest  mountain.  There  is  a  kind  of  'mack- 
erel' sky,  and  the  clouds  are  all  on  fire  with  color.  Everything  is  cool  and 
hushed  but  after  I  have  thought  about  it  for  a  minute  or  two,  a  little  breeze 
comes  up,  and  the  colors  seem  to  grow  more  and  more  vivid.  I  cannot  make 
this  background  last  so  long  as  the  others.  [Utilized  for  fragments  67  (with 
variations),  79,  and  92.] 

"(d)  When  I  read  about  sunset,  I  usually  see  a  sky  full  of  rosy  clouds, 
above  a  country  of  low  green  hills.  After  a  while,  the  color  contracts  until 
it  is  all  in  one  place,  and  there  is  a  great  dusky  coolness  over  everything,  so 
sweet  that  I  can  taste  and  smell  it, — it  is  a  kind  of  vague  image  that  a  real 
sunset  usually  calls  up.  [Utilized  for  fragments  57,  68,  and  89.] 

"(e)  This  is  a  picture  of  bare  brown  hills  and  hollows,  very  stony,  with 
a  great  wind  rushing  over  them.  It  is  very  sunny,  but  the  picture  is  mostly 
one  of  wind,  with  tactual,  temperature  and  auditory  images  and  a  very 
pleasant  Cmotional  coloring.  [Utilized  for  fragments  28  and  29.] 

"(f)  This  is  a  queer  picture  that  I  get  when  the  description  is  too  ab- 
stract for  any  other  background  and  yet  definite  in  the  one  image  that  it 

*Note  5:— I  wish  to  express  my  thanks  to  Miss  Katherine  Taylor  for  her  kindness  in  writing  out 
these  backgrounds. 


i8  TIIK  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 

calls  up.  I  seem  to  be  looking  at  something  in  space,  with  great  depths  of 
air  behind  it,  and  this  last  picture  is  full  of  wind.  [Utilized  for  fragments 
17,  20,  21,  27,  and  105.] 

"(g)  A  picture  of  yellow  wheat-fields  with  much  sunshine  and  wind. 
(Utilized  for  fragments  14  and  97.) 

"(h)  The  interior  of  a  church  or  cathedral,  undoubtedly  composed  of 
memory  elements  which  are  built  up  into  new  combinations,  for  I  have  never 
seen  a  church  exactly  like  it.  I  am  standing  in  the  aisle  not  far  from  the 
chancel.  All  visual;  beautiful  light  and  shadow  effects.  [Utilized  for  frag- 
ments 6  and  90.] 

"(0  A  thunder  storm  in  the  mountains.     [Utilized  for  fragment  74.] 

"(j)  Another  storm  picture,  very  odd.  I  seem  to  see  the  storm  up  in 
the  clouds  somewhere;  there  are  great  dark  depths  of  cloud  and  sudden 
illuminations  of  lightning.  A  great  deal  of  sound  (thunder),  wind,  and  rain, 
and  many  tactual  and  thermal  images.  [Utilized  for  fragments  12,  45,  8o.l 

"(k)  An  image  of  hills  very  far  below  me,  with  a  great  crowd  of  people 
singing  and  shouting.  Auditory  images,  much  sunshine,  and  great  depths 
of  air.  [Utilized  for  fragment  41.] 

"(1)  An  autumn  picture  much  like  (b),  very  highly  colored  and  sunny. 
Tactual  and  olfactory  images.  [Utilized  for  fragment  33.] 

"(m)  A  frosty  morning.  Visual,  temperature,  tactual,  and  auditory 
images.  [Utilized  for  fragment  86.] 

"(n)  A  mediaeval  picture,  first  imagined  when  I  read  Mark  Twain's 
'Joan  of  Arc,'  eight  or  nine  years  ago.  One  end  of  a  hall  blazing  with  sun- 
shine, people  in  mediaeval  dress,  heralds  with  trumpets.  [Utilized  for 
fragment  88.] 

"(o)  In  a  great  evergreen  forest;  dusk,  warmth,  the  odor  and  rustle  of 
trees.  [Utilized  for  fragment  90.] 

"(p)  A  wood  of  young  trees  just  leafing  out  in  the  sunshine,  with  little 
brooks  flowing  through  it.  Olfactory,  tactual,  and  auditory  (children's 
voices)."  [Utilized  for  fragment  102.] 

The  records  show  that  imaginal  reactions  for  which  there  were  no  back- 
grounds were  rarely  pleasant.  The  majority  of  such  reactions  were  indif- 
ferent. Twenty-five  fragments  called  forth  new  backgrounds ;  these  new 
backgrounds  were  less  frequently  associated  with  pleasantness  than  were  the 
old  backgrounds.  Backgrounds  (a)  and  (c)  occur  with  particularly  pleas- 
ing fragments. 

c .    Types  of  Imagination. 

The  degree  and  kind  of  imagination  revealed  in  the  different  reports  is 
also  interesting.  A  possesses  considerable  literary  ability  and  her  reports 
show  much  imagination.  Her  imagination  must,  however,  to  use  Ribot's 
term,  be  called  "plastique"  (13:1530,  since  her  visualizations  are  vivid 
and  concrete  and  the  spatial  relationships  and  tactile  values  are  definite. 
She  demands  clear  and  vivid  imagery  from  the  poet;  definitely  realizable 
meanings.  Far-fetched  analogies  or  synaesthetic  comparisons  of  sights  to 
sounds  are  either  disagreeable  or  ridiculous. 

In  contrast  to  A's  plastic  images  are  those  of  D,  which  also  show  im- 
agination but  are  of  the  "diffluente"  type,  to  use  Ribot's  term  again  (13: 
1630.  D's  flowing  fleeting  images  enable  her  to  appreciate  certain  meta- 
phors and  peculiar  analogies  that  A  finds  disagreeable.  F's  imagery  is  also 
vague  with  contours  washed  away,  as  is  D's.  The  aesthetic  preferences  of 
these  two  subjects  are  often  similar.  Both  find  mood  poetry  delightful.* 

•Not*  8:— It  I*  reUtlre  to  the  "diffluent"  type  of  lm«f  Initlon  that  the  writer  flndi  difficulty  In  ac- 
eeptlnt  Perky'i  experiment*  M  adequate  (IS). 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  19 

B's  images  were  often  unexpected  and  whimsical,  with  fantastic  ele- 
ments. Probably  the  word  "fanciful"  rather  than  the  word  "imaginative" 
characterizes  the  nature  of  his  imagery. 

M's  reactions  were  also  imaginative,  but  with  an  emphasis  on  the 
kinaesthetic  side.  His  images  were  diffluent  and  his  preference  was  for  the 
mystic  in  art.  The  mystic  he  described  as  the  vague,  with  contours  washed 
away ;  there  is  an  opening  up  of  perspective,  a  lack  of  control  of  all  mean- 
ing, a  sense  of  the  cosmic. 

More  than  any  other  subject,  M  cited  aesthetic  associations  as  part  of 
his  reaction  to  the  fragments  read.  This  rise  of  associations,  he  reported, 
gives  bigness  to  the  world ;  personal  relationships  are  enlarged.  For  ex- 
ample we  may  take  his  report  on  fragment  34:  "Turrets  mirrored  in  lake. 
Towers  of  Camelot.  Mediaeval  emotional  tone.  In  thought,  the  mediaeval 
period." 

d.    Spontaneous  and  Voluntary  Imagery. 

The  degree  to  which  imagery  is  under  conscious  control  would  seem  to 
be  an  individual  characteristic  of  some  importance.  B  frequently  reported 
that  his  images  were  wholly  unexpected  and  that  they  were  as  novel  to  him 
as  to  the  experimenter.  He  showed,  however,  considerable  capacity  in  call- 
ing up  voluntarily  images  suggested.  One  morning  he  appeared  for  work  in 
a  very  feverish  condition  which  preluded  a  serious  sickness.  On  this  occa- 
sion, he  experienced  rich  visual  imagery  of  extraordinary  vividness,  charac- 
terized by  brilliancy  of  light  and  color  and  by  its  imaginative  value.  These 
images  were  novel  and  uncontrollable.  More  than  once  B  expressed  curi- 
osity as  to  the  course  of  an  image  and  was  disappointed  if  the  image  vanished 
without  effecting  a  solution  of  a  problem-situation.  During  the  same  ses- 
sion, auditory  images  were  hallucinatory  in  their  vividness. 

Of  all  the  subjects,  D  and  M  appeared  to  have  least  power  of  voluntary  ; 
imaging.  M  reported  that  at  times  he  experiences  auditory  imagery  of  j 
great  vividness  but  that  he  is  not  able  to  call  such  images  up  voluntarily. 
For  D,  the  lack  of  control  over  imagery  is  very  pronounced.  Spontaneous 
imagery  is  both  very  much  more  varied  and  more  intense  than  is  voluntary 
imagery.  On  occasion,  both  visual  and  olfactory  images  become  extraor- 
dinarily vivid,  but  no  amount  of  effort  can  bring  this  about.  In  this  con- 
nection, the  importance  for  both  D  and  M  of  kinaesthetic  material  may  be 
emphasized  and  brought  into  connection  with  the  conjecture  that  the  types 
of  invention  characterized  by  Ribot  (13:129^  as  combinative  and  intuitive 
may  represent  a  dominance  of  sensory  control  for  the  one  and  of  motor 
control  for  the  other.  It  would  be  interesting  to  test,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
manner  of  invention  of  M  and  D  and,  on  the  other,  that  of  A.  The  ob- 
servation of  the  writer  would  be  that  M  and  D  are  strongly  intuitive  in  type 
and  that  A  is  combinative.  In  this  connection  it  should  be  recalled  that  A's 
type  of  imagination  is  plastic ;  D's  and  M's  are  diffluent. 

e.    Self-Projection. 

An  individual  difference,  probably  of  very  great  significance,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  varying  frequency  with  which  reagents  projected  themselves 
into  the  fragments  and  the  form  assumed  by  such  self -projection.  The 
writer  has  described  in  some  detail  in  a  forthcoming  article  in  the  "Psycho- 
logical Review"  the  forms  that  such  self-projection  may  assume.  The  prin- 
cipal forms  are  as  follows:  (i)  Visual  self -projection,  more  or  less  de- 
tailed, without  kinaesthetic  self-reference;  (2)  Visual  self -projection,  with 
kinaesthetic  self -reference,  the  kinaesthetic  factor  sometimes  coalescing 
with  the  visual  self,  sometimes  referred  to  the  actual  body,  sometimes  alter- 
nating with  the  visual  self;  (3)  Kinaesthetic  self-reference,  either  localized 


20  Tin:  IMAC.INAL  REACTION  TO  POETKY. 

or  projected  objectively.  In  the  latter  case  the  projected  kinaesthetic  self 
may  coalesce  with  a  visualization  of  some  object  or  person  described  in  the 
poetic  fragment;  (4)  Organic  or  emotional  identification  of  self  with  ><>mc 
object  or  person  described. 

The  most  noticeable  cas>  of  frequent  and  detailed  visual  self -projection 
was  found  in  the  case  of  £,  who  appeared  in  characteristic  poses  appropri- 
ately dressed.  Social  consciousness  was  often  evident  in  these  reports  of 
the  visualized  self.  Visual  self -projection  also  occurred  with  great  fre- 
quency in  the  case  of  J,  whose  orientation  as  the  visualized  self  and  as 
observer  of  this  visualized  self  was  often  so  definite  as  to  constitute  a  double 
self-reference.  I's  visualization  of  self  was  imagery  of  bits  of  the  body  in 
isolation;  his  visual  self  often  alternated  with  a  kinaesthetic  self.  A  break 
between  the  visual  and  the  kinaesthetic  self  was  also  reported  by  F  and  C. 

Visual  self-projection  was  rare  and  very  schematic  and  vague  for  B, 
A,  D,  L,  and  K  and  altogether  lacking  for  M.  B,  A,  D,  and  M  reported 
nnu-h  kinaesthetic  and  organic  self-reference,  while  A  and  L  also  employed 
considerable  cutaneous  reference. 

The  question  raised  above  as  to  the  relation  of  kinaesthetic  and  optical- 
kinaesthetic  imagery  to  temperament  may  be  raised  a  second  time  relative  to 
the  kinaesthetic  and  visual  self.  The  latter  certainly  appears  a  more  ob- 
jective, less  intimate  experience  than  the  former.  So  far  as  literary  Einftih- 
lung  is  concerned,  it  would  appear  especially  in  those  cases  of  kinaesthetic 
self -reference  which  are  objectified  in  some  object  or  person.  Such  objecti- 
fication  of  kinaesthesis  was  often  reported  by  M. 


5.     THE  INNER  SPEECH. 

An  analysis  of  the  aesthetic  effects  of  poetry  demands  consideration  of 
the  inner  speech  as  the  medium  of  expression,  the  sensuous  side  of  the  art. 

Mueller-Freienfels  (n)  has  distinguished  two  forms  of  aesthetic  re- 
action, the  sensorial  and  the  imaginative.  In  the  first  form,  interest  is  cen- 
tered in  the  sensuous  medium  of  expression ;  there  is  delight  in  pure  color, 
bare  auditory  quality,  sheer  rhythm.  In  the  imaginative  reaction,  the  rep- 
resentative factors  are  of  higher  importance;  one  enjoys  the  portrayal  of 
emotion,  the  imitation  of  nature  and  of  human  life,  the  intimation  of  spir- 
itual truths. 

Poetry,  on  the  sensuous  side,  employs  rhythm  and  the  auditory-motor 
content  of  external  or  of  inner  speech.  It  is  an  auditory-motor  art  allied 
to  music.  Its  sensuous  content  may  be  employed  mainly  as  a  carrier  of 
meaning,  visual  or  other  imagery,  or  may  have  value  in  itself  and  for  itself 
alone.  There  are,  for  example,  forms  of  lyric  poetry  in  which  the  auditory 
content  and  the  rhythm  are  its  chief  reason  for  being.  There  are  poets  who 
aim  at  creating  sheer  word-music,  who  use  words  not  indirectly  as  symbols 
of  meaning  but  immediately  as  musical  notes.  In  general,  however,  poetry 
is  conceived  as  an  imaginative  art,  with  individual  variation  in  the  degree  of 
interest  manifested  in  the  auditory  and  rhythmic  content.  A  high  degree 
of  interest  in  the  latter  content  is  shown  by  delicate  susceptibility  to  asso- 
nance and  alliteration,  to  rhyme  and  rhythm,  with  enjoyment  of  pitch,  tone- 
length,  tone-color. 

The  imaginative  reaction  to  poetry  varies  with  the  imagery  of  the  reader. 
There  may  be  an  attempt  at  complete  visual  translation  of  the  words  on  the 
part  of  the  visual-imaginative  reader,  while  the  reader  of  the  auditory- 
imaginative  type  may  reproduce  the  cadence  and  speech  of  the  speaking 
person  and  rejoice  in  associations  called  up  through  similarities  and  analogies 
of  sound.  The  onomatopoetic  possibilities  of  poetry,  however  subtle,  are 
appreciated  by  such  readers.  Not  only  the  imitation  of  the  sounds  and 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  21 

rhythms  of  nature  by  words  appeals  to  them  but  also  the  attempt  to  repro- 
duce by  words  the  timbre  of  the  human  voice  when  dominated  by  a  given 
emotion. 

From  the  reports  gathered  in  the  present  investigation,  an  effort  was 
made  to  determine  the  value  of  the  inner  speech  for  the  aesthetic  reaction 
of  each  reagent,  the  extent,  that  is,  to  which  each  found  himslf  absorbed  in 
mere  auditory  or  kinaesthetic  verbal  content,  or,  if  he  belonged  to  the 
imaginative-auditory  type,  the  extent  to  which  he  surrendered  to  onomato- 
poetic  effects  or  yielded  to  the  dramatic  possibilities  suggested  by  the 
fragments.  ' 

In  any  case,  the  form  of  the  inner  speech  of  any  given  individual  is 
significant.  In  general,  the  auditory,  the  visual,  and  the  vocal-motor  form, 
with  or  without  auditory  accompaniment,  may  be  distinguished.  Variations 
in  the  form  of  the  inner  speech  with  variation  in  the  given  situation  and 
peculiar  complications  of  one  form  with  another  are  to  'be  noticed.  Town 
(16:127)  nas  been  able  to  describe  such  complications  by  the  relief  into 
which  they  are  thrown  by  their  exaggeration  in  abnormal  cases.  There  are 
cases  of  internal  soliloquy  or  revery  in  which  probably  there  are  strong 
kinaesthetic  elements ;  there  are  cases  of  internal  dialogue  in  which  varied 
relations  may  exist  between  the  different  characters,  depending  upon  the 
form  of  the  inner  speech.  For  both  characters  the  inner  speech  may  be 
motor,  but  more  strongly  motor  for  the  first  person  of  the  dialogue  with 
whom  the  subject  identifies  himself.  Or  an  auditory  form  of  the  inner 
speech  may  interplay  with  the  kinaesthetic,  in  which  case  the  subject  may 
identify  himself  with  the  motor  factor  and  treat  the  auditory  as  an  intruder. 
Again,  the  inner  speech  may  be  wholly  auditory,  with  the  possibility  given 
by  such  form  for  the  intrusion  of  many  voices,  with  one  or  none  of  which 
the  subject  identifies  himself. 

The  significance  of  such  varieties  of  inner  speech  for  literary  creation 
and  appreciation  must  be  very  great.  Thus  the  auditory  inner  speech  sug- 
gests freedom  for  manifold  dramatic  impersonations,  while  the  vocal-motor 
inner  speech  possesses  a  personal  warmth  and  intimacy  more  closely  related 
to  the  lyric  outcry. 

Inner  speech  in  visual  form  is  very  infrequent.  That,  to  some  extent,  it 
is  important  in  the  aesthetic  reaction  is  shown  in  those  cases  where  poets  or 
prose-writers  depend  much  upon  the  appearance  of  a  written  sentence  or  of  a 
verse-form  for  their  cues  in  composition,  not  to  mention  their  dependence 
upon  the  graphic  form  of  inner  speech.  Such  writers  find  great  difficulty  in 
composing  by  dictation.  Victor  Hugo  has  been  cited  as  greatly  dependent 
upon  visual  verbal  form,  as  keenly  sensitive  to  the  "physiognomy"  of  written 
words.  And  Gautier  says :  "For  my  part,  I  think  that,  above  all,  the  phrase 
demands  ocular  rhythm."  (13:157.) 

Kakise  in  his  study  of  understanding  found  that  the  reading  of  a  word 
in  inner  speech  was  general  when  the  word  was  exposed,  that  is  when  there 
was  visual  representation  of  it,  while  it  was  infrequent  when  the  word  was 
heard  spoken,  unless  there  was  difficulty  in  understanding  it.  Visual  repro- 
duction of  a  stimulus  word  when  exposed  scarcely  ever  occurred  and  such 
visual  reproduction  was  infrequent  when  the  stimulus  word  was  spoken. 

(8:i9f.) 

Kakise's  reagents  found  difficulty  in  making  a  distinction  between  the 
auditory  and  motor  elements  in  inner  reading,  although  in  reading  difficult 
words  and  phrases  most  observers  noted  motor  elements.  The  conclusion 
is  reached  that  auditory  reading,  that  is,  reading  without  the  "consciousness 
of  the  innervation  or  movements  of  the  organs  of  speech",  seems  "universal 
and  necessary  for  the  understanding  of  exposed  words  or  phrases",  while 
motor  reading  in  the  sense  of  "consciousness  of  the  innervation  or  move- 


22  Tin   IM .\..I\AL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 

UK-MI  of  the  organs  of  speech  is  not  universal hut  is  limited  to  s<>m< 

individuals  only  and  with  average  individuals,  to  the  reading  of  difficult 
words."    (8:21.) 

The  distinction  between  auditory  and  moter  inner  speech  is  no  doubt 
a  very  difficult  one  to  make.  In  the  present  investigation  it  has  been  con- 
ceived somewhat  differently  from  what  it  was  by  Kakise.  An  attempt  was 
made  introspectively  to  distinguish  between  auditory  and  motor  content. 
Frequently,  of  course,  both  aspects  were  present  in  inner  speech,  which  i> 
auditory-vocal-motor.  A  sense  of  personal  agency  seemed  to  distinguish 
kinaesthetic  inner  speech  from  pure  auditory  inner  speech,  while  pure  vocal- 
motor  speech  may  definitely  lack  auditory  quality.  The  distinction  is  a  diffi- 
cult one  to  make  and  one  which  leaves  open  chance  for  error. 

In  the  present  investigation  an  attempt  was  made  to  place  the  seven 
subjects  of  the  first  group  as  regards  the  form  of  the  inner  speech.  Intro- 
spective reports  were  sought  on  the  one  hundred  ten  fragments  which  were 
read  silently  and  the  forty  fragments  that  were  heard  read  aloud. 

In  agreement  with  Kakise's  finding,  all  seven  reagents  reported  motor 
or  auditory-motor  inner  speeh  during  visual  reading.  Three  of  these  re- 
agents discovered  no  auditory  tone  to  the  inner  speech ;  four  found  the 
auditory  aspect  dominant. 

With  auditory  presentation  of  the  fragments,  there  is  found  on  the  part 
of  certain  subjects  considerable  tendency  to  repeat  or  to  hear  echoed  in  the 
reader's  voice  parts  of  the  fragments,  either  those  that  are  not  immediately 
understood  or  those  that  give  pleasure,  because  of  verbal  beauty.  Visual 
inner  speech,  which  did  not  occur  during  visual  reading,  became  pronounced 
for  one  subject  while  listening  to  the  fragments  read  aloud. 

The  individual  reactions  deserve,  however,  careful  consideration  as  an 
important  part  of  the  aesthetic  reaction. 

Of  all  the  subjects  tested,  B  is  most  preoccupied,  during  visual  reading, 
with  inner  speech.  This  inner  speech  is  for  him  the  most  important  phase 
of  poetry.  Other  imagery  is  definitely  subordinated  to  it.  If  attention  be 
concentrated  upon  it,  it  usurps  the  place  of  all  other  imagery.  B  lays  great 
emphasis  upon  rhyme  and  sometimes  accents  the  rhyming  words  in  an  un- 
comfortable fashion.  In  general,  however,  his  reactions  are  of  the  imagina- 
tive-auditory type  since  he  hears  each  fragment  recited  in  the  appropriate 
voice  with  very  little,  or,  frequently,  with  no  vocal-motor  accompaniment. 

Frequently  the  voice  heard  is  his  own ;  frequently  it  is  one  suggested  by 
the  phrasing  of  the  fragment  or  one  proceeding  from  some  visualized  char- 
acter introduced  by  B  to  do  the  reading.  In  the  one  hundred  and  ten  frag- 
ments read  visually,  fifty  were  heard  read  in  B's  own  voice  which  was 
variously  modulated ;  forty-six  were  definitely  stated  to  be  in  voices  other 
than  his  own.  Fourteen  times  the  voice  was  said  to  be  a  feminine  voice; 
fourteen  times  described  as  a  masculine  voice  not  his  own.  Once  there  was 
a  distinct  shift  from  a  woman's  to  a  man's  voice;  once  a  shift  from  a  child's 
voice  to  a  man's.  There  were  only  two  cases  of  pure  visual  reading  and  only 
eight  cases  where  there  was  no  voice  or  a  voice  not  attended  to. 

Such  a  grouping  of  results  gives,  however,  little  idea  of  the  infinite 
variation  in  auditory  quality  that  B  introduces  into  his  silent  reading. 
Thus  he  may  modify  his  own  voice  so  as  to  make  it  more  melodious.  He 
describes  the  voices  as  sweet  or  plaintive  or  cruel ;  nasal  or  sonorous ; 
matter-of-fact,  or  measured  and  dead.  Sometimes  the  effects  produced 
are  grotesque  as  in  a  fragment  from  Swinburne  in  which  he  hears  a  child's 
lisp  until  he  comes  to  the  phrase,  "Terrible,  full  of  thunders,"  at  which 
the  voice  becomes  that  of  an  angry  man.  One  fragment  which  is  read  in 
a  dead  tone  was  accompanied  by  a  "piercing  wail  which  rose  and  fell,"  and 
in  another  fragment,  read  by  a  woman,  there  is  a  cry  at  the  end  of  each 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  23 

line.     Often,  for  B,  the  visual  imagery  aroused  by  a  fragment  is  that  of 
the  speaker  of  the  lines  heard  recited. 

B  sometimes  complained  that  the  intensity  of  the  auditory  inner  speech 
obliterated  concrete  auditory  imagery,  which  is  his  preferred  form  of 
imagery.  The  question  was  raised  whether  with  an  auditory  presentation 
there  would  be  an  increase  in  the  number  of  concrete  auditory  images. 
Such  seemed  to  be  the  case.  B  reported,  proportionally,  a  larger  number 
of  concrete  auditory  images  in  listening  to  the  fragments  read  than  when 
reading  them  to  himself.  It  would  seem,  then,  that  B  found  the  auditory 
quality  of  inner  speech  a  greater  hindrance  to  the  arousal  of  other  auditory 
imagery  than  was  an  objective  auditory  stimulation.  Of  no  other  reagent 
can  the  same  statement  be  made. 

While  listening  to  the  fragments  read  aloud,  B  got  much  less  auditory 
inner  speech  than  when  reading  the  fragments  silently.  In  one-fourth  of 
the  trials,  however,  he  reported  a  peculiar  echoing  of  the  reader's  voice, 
word  by  word,  an  echo  which  B  described  as  similar  to  hearing  the  same 
note  struck  at  once  on  two  different  strings.  Such  an  echoing  occurred 
when  B  had  difficulty  in  catching  the  meaning  or  where  there  was  no 
translation  of  the  words  into  concrete  imagery.  In  two  or  three  cases,  this 
echoing  became  overpowered  toward  the  close  of  the  reading  by  concrete 
auditory  imagery  aroused  by  the  words  of  the  fragment.  Thus,  in  one 
case,  the  imaged  sound  of  the  roar  of  the  ocean  overpowered  the  echo. 
In  several  cases,  throughout  the  reading,  even  the  voice  of  the  reader  was 
so  overpowered  and  an  immediate  translation  of  the  fragment  into  concrete 
auditory  imagery  occurred. 

In  five  cases,  B  repeated,  in  his  own  voice,  portions  of  the  fragments 
read.  Such  repetition  on  B's  part  seemed  to  be  an  attempt  to  enforce  the 
rhythm  or  to  maintain  sounds  that  were  particularly  pleasing. 

D,  also,  during  visual  reading  of  poetry  finds  the  inner  speech  strikingly 
auditory.  *  For  D,  however,  the  voice  heard  is  always  her  own  and  the  motor 
quality  is  frequently  pronounced.  D,  as  B,  often  dramatizes  the  selection 
"but  with  this  difference,  she  herself  is  the  reader  and  makes  the  gestures 
that  B  sees  the  visualized  reader  make.  Pitch  and  voice-inflection  are 
important  for  D.  A  strong  rhythm  effects  a  striking  organic  reaction ; 
it  may  modify  respiration  and  be  felt  beating  in  the  hand.  D,  on  occasion, 
finds  it  quite  possible  to  enjoy  poetry  as  pure  auditory-motor  content 
with  little  question  as  to  meaning. 

Of  all  the  reagents,  D  laid  greatest  emphasis  upon  onomatopoeia,  which 
played  a  very  important  part  in  conveying  the  auditory  quality  intended. 
Thus,  while  the  ringing  auditory  quality  of  the  lines  heard  often  inhibited 
a  more  concrete  objective  image,  the  word  suggesting  such  auditory  imagery 
would  echo,  as  it  were,  throughout  the  entire  line.  The  following  example 
illustrates  this.  The  fragment  ( 1 1 )  reads  : 

"And  the  mystic  wind  went  by, 
"Murmuring  in  melody." 

In  this  case  the  word  "murmur"  echoes  in  consciousness  to  the  end  of 
the  line.  The  word  itself  as  a  delicate  auditory  after-image  constitutes 
the  accompaniment  to  the  reading.  The  same  effect  was  noticed  with  such 
words  as  groan,  moan,  wind,  laughing,  rustling,  music. 

Another  form  of  onomatopoeia,  which  may  be  called  visual  onomato- 
poeia, was  reported  by  D.  D  does  very  little  visual  reading,  reading,  that  is, 
without  the  mediation  of  inner  speech.  What  she  describes  as- visual  onoma- 
topoeia is  not  merely  where  the  word  looks  its  meaning  but  when  it  looks 
the  concrete  visual  image  of  that  for  which  it  stands.  Thus  the  word 
"laugh"  appears  to  grin,  the  word  "light"  dazzles  and  the  word  "bowers" 
looks  round. 


24  THE  IMACINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 

While  listening  to  the   fragments  read  aloud,  D  noticed  little  inner 
speech  except  where  she  echoed  in  her  own  voice  pleasing  words  or  phrases 
of  which  she  did  not  catch  the  meaning  or  those  for  which  the  reader's 
voice  did  not  give  the  correct  inflection.    Often  her  attention  was  obsi 
by  the  sheer  auditory  quality  of  the  reader's  voice. 

E's  introspections  on  the  inner  speech  give  little  detail,  except  that 
in  visual  reading  she  hears  each  fragment  read  in  her  own  voice.  When 
the  fragments  were  read  aloud  to  her,  she  showed  considerable  tendency 
to  echo  the  words  in  auditory-kinaesthetic  inner  speech.  Such  repetition 
which  was  noted  eighteen  times  in  the  forty  trials  was  particularly  evident 
when  the  meaning  of  a  passage  was  not  at  once  evident. 

G  also  failed  to  give  detailed  observations.  Her  inner  speech  is,  at 
times,  vocal-motor;  at  other  times  auditory-vocal-motor.  Sometimes  G 
hears  her  own  voice ;  at  other  times  a  voice  other  than  her  own.  In  listening 
to  the  fragments  read,  there  appeared  to  be  very  little  echoing  or  repetition 
of  the  reader's  voice. 

During  silent  reading,  C  frequently  failed  to  notice  any  inner  speech 
whatever.  When  noticed,  such  inner  speech  appeared  to  be  kinaesthetic, 
usually  without  auditory  accompaniment.  In  the  reading  of  occasional 
fragments,  a  word  or  phrase  would  flash  out  auditorially.  This  auditory 
imagery  appeared  to  be  a  method  of  emphasis.  In  listening  to  the  frag- 
ments read  aloud,  C  showed  a  varying  tendency  to  focus  on  the  sound 
of  the  reader's  voice  or  on  the  visual  images  aroused  by  the  words.  There 
was  very  little  tendency  to  repeat  the  words  heard,  although  occasionally 
such  repetition  occurred  when  there  was  difficulty  in  getting  the  meaning 
or  when  there  was  a  desire  to  emphasize  a  particular  line.  Such  repetition 
was,  however,  reported  only  six  times  during  the  forty  tests. 

The  inner  speech  for  F  is  purely  vocal-motor,  with,  usually,  very  little 
consciousness  even  of  its  motor  quality.  Sometimes  during  silent  reading 
actual  lip-movement  is  evident.  This  occurs  when  the  meaning  of  a 
fragment  is  not  at  once  evident  or  where  the  wording  of  a  fragment  is 
particularly  pleasant.  In  the  latter  case  F  often  vocalizes  the  fragment 
several  times,  "half-audibly."  Highly  agreeable  rhythms  F  finds  herself 
emphasizing  by  pointing  to  the  words  with  a  rhythmic  movement. 

Although  there  was  no  auditory  quality  to  inner  speech,  F  sometimes 
put  the  words  into  the  mouths  of  characters  described  in  the  fragments. 
This  she  did  visually ;  she  knew  that  a  character  was  speaking  by  the 
movements  of  the  lips  although  she  heard  no  words.  Again,  she  was  in 
one  fragment  aware  that  cheering  was  in  progress  by  noting  visually  the 
waving  of  hats,  handkerchiefs,  etc. 

In  general,  F  gets  little  meaning  from  hearing  anything  read  aloud. 
So  little  is  auditory  attention  developed  that  in  order  to  understand  she 
must  read  to  herself.  Auditory  rhythm  is,  too,  less  appreciated  than  motor 
rhythm.  In  listening  to  the  fragments  read  aloud,  F  showed  considerable 
tendency  to  repeat  in  inner  speech  the  words  of  the  reader.  She  found 
difficulty  in  determining  whether  this  inner  speech  was  due  to  her  under- 
standing of  the  words  read  or  whether  the  fragment  had  meaning  because 
of  the  vocal  repetition.  Apparently,  F  repeated  by  lines  when  the  meaning 
was  clear,  skimming  these  lines  in  inner  speech ;  but  when  the  meaning  was 
not  at  once  evident,  she  distinctly  articulated  separate  words.  Probably 
motor  inner  speech  is  always  present  under  these  conditions,  but  at  times 
is  so  automatip  as  to  escape  detection.  When  there  was  particular  difficulty 
in  getting  the  meaning,  F  sometimes  reported  visual  verbal  imagery. 

The  inner  speech  for  A  during  silent  reading  was  kinaesthetic,  probably 
purely  vocal-motor.  She  delights  in  pleasant  combinations  of  vocal  move- 
ments and  is  especially  pleased  with  Swinburne's  rhythms.  Much  concrete 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  25 

auditory  imagery  was  aroused  by  the  words  read  but  there  was  no  auditory 
consciousness  of  the  words  themselves.  A  reports  that  she  cannot  call 
up  the  sound  of  her  own  voice,  to  which  she  has  probably  given  little 
auditory  attention,  as  her  description  of  it  is  very  different  from  that  given 
by  other  persons.  The  sounds  imaged  by  her  are,  chiefly,  natural  sounds. 

One  peculiarity  noted  during  silent  reading  emphasized  the  importance 
of  visual  verbal  imagery  for  A,  a  most  noticeable  form  of  imagery  when 
A  heard  the  fragments  read  aloud.  Large  letters  occurring  in  the  text 
were  found  to  magnify  the  visual  images  which  they  aroused.  Thus  in  her 
report  on  a  particular  fragment,  A  wrote,  "Visual  image  of  a  gigantic  sun- 
flower," this  is  due  to  the  capital  S  (for  sunflower)  ;  large  letters  always 
magnify  the  picture  given  by  the  word,  unless  it  is  a  word  that  is  often 
capitalized. 

In  listening  to  the  fragments  read  aloud,  A's  visual  verbal  imagery 
became  very  pronounced.  Besides  such  visual  translation  of  the  words 
heard,  as  though  she  were  actually  reading  them,  A  repeated  the  words  in 
kinaesthetic  inner  speech.  This  double  verbal  accompaniment  was  reported 
in  almost  every  trial.  It  became  more  pronounced  when  the  meaning  of 
a  fragment  was  not  at  once  evident  or  when  the  concrete  visual  imagery 
was  less  distinct  than  was  usually  the  case.  Sometimes  words  not  pro- 
nounced by  the  reader  flashed  out  before  the  mind's  eye  as  if  in  explanation 
or  emendation  of  a  passage.  This  visual  inner  speech,  although  with 
subjects  in  general  a  very  uncommon  form,  is  an  every  day  matter  with 
A.  Certain  fragments  were  noted  as  giving  charming  visual  verbal  effects. 
A  curious  example  of  a  visual  verbal  translation  of  a  synaesthetic  fragment 
came  in  connection  with  Swinburne's  phrase  "Sounds  that  shine."  This 
phrase  immediately  appeared  to  A  printed  in  visual  form  but  in  char- 
acters of  LIGHT. 

A's  visualized  letters  are  at  about  reading  distance,  whence  come  some 
peculiar  adjustments  of  the  eyes  when  the  visual  imagery  of  a  concrete 
scene  lies  at  a  greater  distance.  The  words  are  visualized  in  dark  print 
a  word  or  phrase  at  a  time.  The  background  on  which  the  words  appear, 
A  is  unable  to  describe.  It  seems  dark  as  do  the  letters,  but  separated 
from  the  latter  by  a  space-interval. 

Of  the  second  group  of  subjects,  the  inner  speech  was  noted  for  J, 
I,  L  and  M.  For  J  the  inner  speech  was  auditory;  many  different  voices 
were  distinguished.  For  I  it  was  auditory-kinaesthetic.  For  M  the  kin- 
aesthetic  side  of  inner  speech  was  prominent ;  he  showed  a  strong  tendency 
to  read  aloud  in  order  to  enforce  the  auditory  content.  For  L  the  inner 
speech  was  kinaesthetic-auditory. 


II.    DEPENDENCE  OF  REACTION  UPON  MATERIAL. 

I.      LITERARY  SUGGESTION. 

The  images  reported  in  this  experiment  depend  not  only  upon  the 
individual  reactions  of  the  subjects  but  also  upon  the  suggestions  conveyed 
in  the  lines  read. 

According  to  such  writers  upon  aesthetics  as  Souriau  (14),  the  images 
aroused  by  poetry  should  be  much  more  vivid  than  the  images  of  common- 
place thought,  both  on  account  of  the  skill  with  which  the  suggestion  is 
given  and  its  enforcement  by  such  a  semi-hypnotic  device  as  that  of  rhythm. 
The  breaking  up  of  the  poems  into  fragments  as  was  done  in  the  test 
under  consideration  prevented  the  cumulative  effects  of  absorption  in  the 
poetic  suggestion.  The  skill  with  which  suggestions  were  given  remained, 
however,  operative. 


26 


THK  IMAGINAL  RI:UTIU\  TO  POETRY. 


Table  IV  represents  an  attempt  to  summarize  the  number  of  each  kin-1 
of  suggestion,  except  the  visual  and  kinaesthetic,  contained  in  the  series 
of  fragments  that  were  read,  silently  (See  appendix),  and  to  determine 
the  percentage  of  successful  suggestions  in  each  instance.  In  every  case 
the  words  of  the  fragments  are  taken  at  their  face  value,  but,  even  so,  there 
is  chance  for  error  in  classifying  the  suggestions.  Such  chance  for  error 
is  greater  in  the  case  of  cutaneous  and  organic  suggestion  than  in  the  case 
of  auditory  and  olfactory,  while  it  seemed  impossible  to  classify  the  kin- 
aesthetic  suggestions  so  as  to  distinguish  between  the  suggestion  of  optical 
and  that  of  felt  kinaesthesis. 

TAItl   ! 
PER  CENT  SUCCESSFUL  SUGGESTION.    DIRKCT  YKRSl'S  IM>IKK»T  AROUSAL. 


Kind  of 
Softest  Ion 

No.  of  Possible 
Image*  Through 
Direct  Arousal 

Per  rent. 

Si:i  .-.  -«f  ,1 

Suggestion 

Total 
of 
Images 

Per  Cent. 
Directly 
Aroused 

Indirectly 
Aroused 

Auditory 

:••  •' 

40.8 

486 

88  0 

11.1 

Olfactory 

S».S 

130 

70.2 

23.8 

Gustatory    

127 

14.  S 

22 

81.8 

18.2 

Cutaneous    

300 

85.5 

M 

47.0 

62.4 

Organic  and  pain 

\r, 

30.7 

240 

53.2 

40.8 

The  table  makes  it  at  once  evident  that  auditory  suggestion  was  more 
frequently  successful  than  any  other  form  given  in  the  table,  while  gustatory 
suggestion  was  least  successful. 

In  the  case  of  every  form  of  suggestion,  certain  fragments  were  par- 
ticularly effective.  Thus  eleven  subjects  reacted  with  auditory  imagery 
to  87.  which  describes  the  noise  of  a  waterfall,  while  ten  subjects  gave 
auditory  imagery  for  fragments  11  and  33,  both  of  which  are  descriptive 
of  the  wind.  The  reports  made  it  very  evident  that  certain  auditory  images 
are  particularly  easy  to  arouse.  The  sound  of  rain  and  of  the  bugle-note, 
the  sighing  of  the  wind  and  the  rush  of  wings,  the  noise  of  the  surf,  the 
tolling  of  a  bell  are  imaged  without  difficulty. 

For  arousal  of  olfactory  images,  vague  allusions  were  found  to  be  less 
effective  than  were  specific  suggestions.  Thus,  if  the  odor  of  the  violet 
or 'hyacinth  be  suggested,  it  is  more  apt  to  be  successful  than  the  vague 
suggestion  contained  in  the  words  "field  smells  known  in  infancy,"  (Frag- 
ment 107).  Yet  Swinburne's  phrase,  "perfume  of  songs"  (Fragment  53) 
\vn<  effective  for  six  of  the  twelve  reagents.  Fragment  46  was  the  most 
successful  in  suggesting  olfactory  imagery,  a  reaction  reported  by  nine  sub- 
jects. Fragment  6  was  effective  in  only  two  cases.  The  smell  of  the  rain, 
of  wet  grass,  and  of  damp  earth  and  the  fragrance  of  flowers  were  reported 
very  often.  Sometimes  the  images  of  flower-odors  were  reported  as  specific, 
such  as  the  image  of  the  fragrance  of  the  hyacinth,  of  the  rose  or  of  the 
poppy.  Certain  odor  images  were,  however,  describable  only  in  vaguer 
terms,  as  "funeral  flower"  odor,  "heavy  flower"  odor  or  faint  sweet  odor. 
Such  odor-images  recall  the  generic  images  so  familiar  to  us  in  visual 
imagery. 

Gustatory  images  were  not  a  frequent  form  of  reaction.  The  more 
definite  the  reference,  the  more  likely  it  was  to  succeed.  Fragment  109 
\\.IN  the  most  successful  in  producing  gustatory  experience.  Eight  subjects 
reported  such  reaction.  Fragment  109  represents  a  device,  frequently  em- 
ployed by  Keats,  namely,  the  repetition  of  a  suggestion  of  a  particular  kind. 

The  mention  of  wind  or  rain  is  very  effective  in  the  arousal  of  cutan- 
eous imagery.  Some  forty  tactual  images  of  the  wind  were  reported  and 
some  twenty  tactual  images  of  rain.  The  suggestion  of  warm  rain,  soft 
breezes,  sodden  ground,  cold,  bare  shoulders  were  highly  successful.  Frag- 
ments 8,  32,  51,  and  29  were  very  effective  in  the  arousal  of  cutaneous 
reactions. 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  27 

Of  the  fragments  containing  organic  suggestion,  65  is  most  successful, 
since  nine  subjects  responded  with  some  form  of  organic  reaction,  while 
eight  gave  an  organic  reaction  to  17  and  seven  to  113.  Fragment  65  is  of 
particular  interest  since  it  embodies  a  semi-hypnotic  suggestion,  a  device 
used,  it  is  claimed,  by  poets,  in  order  to  put  their  readers  in  susceptible  non- 
critical  mood.  Judging  from  the  effect  on  the  present  subjects,  we  must 
concede  that  these  lines,  the  opening  ones  of  Keats'  "Ode  to  a  Nightingale," 
have  exactly  the  drowsy-trance  effect  held  to  be  desirable. 

Relative  to  the  relation  between  images  aroused  directly  by  suggestion 
or  indirectly  through  connotation,  it  should  be  noted  that  in  this  respect 
the  auditory  images  excel  in  percentage  of  direct  arousal  and  the  cutaneous 
in  percentage  of  images  aroused  indirectly. 

Most  of  the  fifty  odd  auditory  images  aroused  indirectly  can  be  at- 
tributed to  individual  predisposition  on  the  part  of  the  reagent.  A  few 
fragments,  however,  show  the  capacity  for  indirect  arousal  apart  from  sug- 
gestion. Thus  fragment  14  conveys  an  auditory  reaction  to  four  reagents 
although  the  words  do  not  suggest  auditory  content.  Fragment  55  gives 
auditory  content  to  two  reagents,  although  the  words  do  not  suggest  such 
content  directly. 

The  thirty-one  olfactory  images  aroused  without  direct  suggestion  are 
to  be  attributed  largely  to  the  individual  peculiarities  of  A  and  L,  who  fur- 
nish 24  of  these  images.  Fragments  2,  49,  and  89  convey,  however,  the 
olfactory  content  indirectly  and  are  effective  each  for  three  subjects. 

The  percentage  of  cutaneous  images  without  direct  suggestion  is  very 
high;  141  images  of  this  kind  are  reported.  L  reacted  with  cutaneous 
imagery  whenever  an  out-of-doors  suggestion  was  given.  Other  reagents 
also  showed  a  susceptibility  to  such  indirect  arousal.  Fragments  descriptive 
of  either  wind  or  rain  were  particularly  apt  to  call  out  such  images,  even 
though  the  wording  did  not  suggest  them.  Thus  2  (rain)  and  n  (wind) 
give  a  number  of  cutaneous  images,  although  by  no  means  as  large  a  number 
as  8  and  33,  where  the  cutaneous  reference  is  definitely  made. 

A  large  percentage  of  the  organic  and  pain  images  were  also  aroused 
indirectly.  In  this  latter  class  are  included  those  organic  images  or  sen- 
sations which  represent  the  emotional  reaction  to  the  fragment  as  a  whole. 
The  organic  thrill  or  repulsion  is  a  form  of  such  reaction.  Such  reactions 
were,  of  course,  largely  an  individual  matter.  Yet  such  fragments  as  98 
and  94  called  them  out  in  a  number  of  reagents. 

2.     THE  METHOD  OF  STYLE. 

The  attempt  to  determine  the  imaginal  type  of  a  poet's  mind  from  his 
literary  imagery  "has  proved  more  or  less  open  to  criticism.  Lay  (9)  at- 
tempted to  deduce  the  imagery  of  an  author  from  the  imagery  aroused  in 
his  own  mind  as  reader  of  the  author.  But  as  Colvin  has  pointed  out 
(5:232),  the  individual  difference  in  imaginal  reaction  is  so  great  that  the 
same  passage  may  be  interpreted  in  different  terms  by  different  readers ; 
what  is  translated  into  kinaesthetic  imagery  by  one  person  may  take  visual 
form  for  another. 

Angell  is  also  skeptical  as  to  any  extensive  application  of  the  method. 
He  writes:  (i:66f.)  "The  method  may  often  give  correct  results  within 
the  narrow  field  to  which  it  applies,  but  it  is  never  possible  to  be  sure  of 
these  and  the  outcome  is  certainly  misleading  in  its  indications  in  many 
instances." 

Such  limitations  of  the  method  are  beyond  question.  Nevertheless,  on 
general  grounds,  one  would  expect  an  author's  style  to  be  so  greatly  influ- 
enced by  the  kind  of  imagery,  both  concrete  and  verbal,  for  which  he  has 


28  Tin:  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POKTRY. 

the  greatest  predisposition  and  by  the  abstract  or  specific  character  of  tliU 
imagery  that  such  influence  would  react  on  the  reader. 

The  more  we  recognize  the  disposition  of  the  average  man  for  every 
sort  of  imagery  while  recognizing  his  predisposition  for  one  or  more  par- 
ticular kinds,  the  more  emphasis  we  are  led  to  assign  to  material  as 
influencing  the  kind  of  imagery  aroused.  That  in  poetry  the  form  of  sug- 
gestion contained  in  the  words  is  influential  is  shown  by  the  summary  in 
the  preceding  section.  Evidence  as  to  the  effect  of  the  author's  imagery 
upon  the  reader  would  be  cumulative.  While,  that  is,  it  would  be  illegitimate 
to  draw  conclusions  from  the  reports  of  one  reader  on  a  few  passages  of 
a  given  author,  conclusions  might  well  be  drawn  from  the  reports  of  many 
reagents  differing  in  imagery  predisposition.  Certain  similarities  in  reaction 
must  be  attributed  to  the  imagery-arousing  material  and,  hence,  to  the 
M  n»ory  preoccupations,  perceptual  or  imaginal,  of  the  author. 

A  complete  test  of  the  method  of  style  would  involve,  first,  consider- 
ation of  the  extent  to  which  the  inner  speech  of  a  given  reagent  is  modified 
by  the  style  of  a  particular  author,  and,  second,  the  variations  in  his 
imaginal  reactions  due  to  the  literary  imagery  of  the  author. 

Relative  to  the  second  point  the  following  observations  are  in  order. 
The  one  hundred  fragments  utilized  in  the  test  were  taken  from  the  fol- 
lowing authors:  Blake,  thirteen  (57  lines);  Poe,  twenty-six  (80  lines); 
Shelley,  twenty-five  (97  lines)  ;  Keats,  twenty-three  (78  lines),  and  Swin- 
burne, thirteen  (59  lines).  In  addition,  the  seven  reagents  of  the  first  group 
reported  on  four  additional  fragments  for  Poe  (11  lines),  four  for  Keats 
(13  lines),  and  two  for  Swinburne  (13  lines).  The  fragments  were,  of 
course,  not  marked  with  the  name  of  the  poet  and  with  a  few  exceptions 
were  unrecognized  by  any  of  the  reagents  except  D. 

Tables  V,  VI,  VII  and  VIII  contain  the  summary  of  the  following 
points  relative  to  the  imaginal  reactions  to  each  poet.  ( i )  The  number 
of  each  kind  of  sense  suggestion  given,  omitting  the  visual  and  the 
kinaesthetic ;  (2)  The  percentage  of  successful  suggestions;  (3)  The 
percentage  of  images  of  each  kind  aroused  directly,  and  (4)  The  percentage 
of  each  kind  aroused  indirectly.  Table  IX  gives  the  total  number  of  kin- 
aesthetic  and  visual  images  for  each  poet. 

A  study  ol/hese  tables  brings  out  some  interesting  points.  It  should 
be  noticed  that^oe  gives  the  highest  number  of  successful  auditory  sug- 
gestions ;  Shelley  the  highest  number  of  successful  olfactory  suggestions ; 
Keats  the  largest  number  of  successful  cutaneous  images,  and  Poe  the 
greatest  number  of  successful  organic  suggestions,  with  Shelley  but  slightly 
behind.^Literary  critics  have  often  commented  on  Shelley's  preoccupation 
with  o<Tor  and  his  frequent  use  of  it  as  literary  material  and  on  Keats' 
penchant  for  cutaneous  experience.  The  results  of  the  present  test  evidence 
the  skillful  use  by  these  poets  of  their  favored  material.  Poe's  successful 
use  of  auditory  suggestion  is  not  surprising  to  a  reader  of  his  works ;  one 
is,  however,  curious  as  to  the  characteristic  of  his  style  which  gives  him 
such  a  high  power  of  arousal  of  imagery  indirectly,  particularly  in  the  case 
of  olfactory  and  cutaneous  imagery. 

Table  IX  gives  the  total  number  of  kinaesthetic  and  visual  reactions 
for  each  poet  under  the  heads,  optical-kinaesthetic,  felt  kinaesthetic  (move- 
ment and  posture),  and  visual.  Poe,  it  will  be  seen,  induces  an  optical- 
kinaesthetic  reaction  much  more  frequently  than  either  a  posture  or  a  move- 
ment reaction.  Moreover,  his  optical-kinaesthetic  images  are,  relatively 
to  the  number  of  fragments  (or  the  number  of  lines),  more  frequent  than 
was  the  case  for  the  other  poets.  This  preoccupation  with  visualized 
movement  seems,  to  the  writer,  a  general  characteristic  of  Poe's  poetry. 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 


29 


The  results  of  the  experiment  would  show  that  such  an  interpretation  is 
not  merely  a  matter  of  individual  reaction. 

Swinburne  and  Keats  give  the  greatest  excess  of  felt  kinaesthesis  over 
optical-kinaesthetic  images.  This,  again,  is  a  result  that  might  have  been 
anticipated  since  the  rhythmic  quality  of  Swinburne's  poetry,  and  the 
"statuesque"  quality  of  Keats'  have  been  matters  of  comment. 

Relative  to  the  number  of  visual  images,  it  is  evident  that  Poe,  Shelley, 
and  Keats  excel  Swinburne  and  Blake, — a  statement  which  holds  whether 
the  proportion  of  images  be  reckoned  for  number  of  fragments  or  number 
of  images. 

Relative  to  the  vividness  of  the  visual  imagery,  Poe  and  Shelley  excel 
as  shown  by  the  following  estimate.  The  number  of  fragments  marked 
as  giving  either  very  vivid  or  moderately  vivid  visual  imagery  by  the  Chi- 
cago group  were  summarized  with  the  following  results :  Poe's  percentage 
of  vivid  images  per  fragment  was  2.15  or,  per  line,  .7;  Shelley's  percentage 
per  fragment,  2.08,  per  line,  .5;  Keats',  per  fragment,  1.34,  per  line,  .43; 
Swinburne's,  per  fragment,  1.38,  per  line,  .03;  Blake's,  per  fragment,  1.69, 
per  line,  .38.  Put  in  another  way,  the  pre-eminence  of  Shelley  and  Poe 
in  this  respect  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  furnish  57  per  cent  of  the 
vivid  and  moderately  vivid  visual  images,  although  in  proportion  of  whole 
number  of  lines  to  the  total  number  they  constitute  only  48  per  cent. 

The  question  of  plastic  and  diffluent  imagination  which  was  considered 
above  relative  to  the  subjects  may  be  raised  again  in  connection  with  the 
poet's  type  of  invention.  On  the  basis  of  the  tests  the  only  assertion  that 
may  be  ventured  is  that  Poe  with  his  excess  of  visual  images,  particularly 
of  optical-kinaesthetic  over  felt  kinaesthetic  reactions,  appears  to  be  plastic 
in  imagination, — as  in  fact  he  has  been  described.  His  method  of  com- 
position, if  we  may  trust  his  own  reports,  was  highly  self-conscious,  a 
fact  of  great  interest  in  the  present  connection. 

TABLE  v. 

AUDITORY  SUGGESTION. 


Poet 

No.  of 
Possible  Images. 
Suggestions  X 
No.  oi  Reagents 

Per  Cent. 

Successful 
Suggestions 

Total  No. 
pf  Images 

Per  Cent. 
Images  Aroused 
Directly 

Per  Cent. 
Images  Aroused 
Indirectly 

Blake    

144 

42.4 

65 

93.8 

6.2 

Shelley    

180 

45.6 

89 

92.1 

7.9 

Keats    

258 

43 

119 

93.2 

6.8 

Swinburne  

203 

32 

70 

92.9 

7.1 

Poe  

254 

51.6 

143 

91.6 

8.4 

TABLE  VI. 
OLFACTORY  SUGGESTION. 


Poet 

No.  of 
Possible  Images. 
Suggestions  X 
No.  of  Reagents 

Per  Cent. 

Successful 
Suggestions 

Total  No. 
of  Images 

Per  Cent. 
Images  Aroused 
Directly 

Per  Cent. 
Images  Aroused 
Indirectly 

Blake    

0 

5 

100 

Shelley    

156 

43.6 

73 

93.2 

6.8 

Keats    

86 

33.3 

18 

66.7 

33.3 

Swinburne  

24 

33.3 

14 

57.1 

42.9 

Poe  

36 

30.6 

20 

55 

45 

- 

Tin-:  I\i\.. i SAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 

TABLE  VII. 


Poet 

No.  Of 
PnMlblr  Imnjcr*. 
Suggestion!  X 
No.  of  B«*t«au 

NrOa* 

v  MMfOl 
SUCfSStlOlU 

Total  No. 
of  Images 

Per< 

Image*  Aroused 
Directly 

Per  < 

Imagr«  Aroimnl 
Indirectly 

Rlakr 

i 

45  8 

:  ' 

84.4 

«6.0 

SbeOty    

III 

. 

60 

66 

85 

XMU    .... 

84 

52.4 

08 

64.7 

|  .  | 

Swinburne  .. 

00 

80.7 

39 

68.4 

48.0 

Pot  

H 

38.8 

70 

17.1 

82.0 

TABLE  VIII. 
ORGANIC  AND  PAIN  SUGGESTION. 


Poet 

No.  of 

I'oimiblc  Image*. 
Suggestions  X 
No.  Of  Reagent* 

Per  <Vnt 
«»ful 
Suggestion* 

Total  No. 
of  Images 

JVrCant. 
Image*  Aroused 
Directly 

Perdnt 
Images  Aroujed 
Indirectly 

Blake 

7J 

28  0 

jg 

08 

87 

^'  •::.  v 

7j 

84  7 

54 

40  8 

58.  7 

Keats    

Id) 

80  9 

AO 

01  7 

88.8 

Swinburne  .  . 

71 

20  4 

aj 

48  7 

M.3 

Poe  

n 

80  8 

00 

0 

60 

TABLE  IX. 

KIXAKSTHKTIC  KKACTIONS. 


Optical- 

relt-Kinaestbetlc 

Poet 

Klnarxthetlc 

Movement 

Posture 

Total 

Visual 

H;.,K, 

43 

28 

17 

45 

in 

Shelley    

00 

48 

21 

i  . 

287 

Keati    

74 

01 

45 

100 

248 

28 

34 

22 

50 

138 

Poe  

110 

40 

39 

88 

280 

III.    THE  AFFECTIVE  JUDGMENT. 

• 

I.     IMAGERY    AXD  THE   AFFECTIVE   JUDGMENT. 

A  classification,  in  one  experimental  session,  of  the  fragments,  first, 
under  the  rubrics  +3,  very  pleasant;  +2,  moderately  pleasant;  +i,  slightly 
pleasant;  o,  indifferent;  ?,  partly  pleasant,  partly  unpleasant;  — i,  slightly 
unpleasant ;  — 2,  moderately  unpleasant ;  — 3,  very  unpleasant,  and,  sec- 
ondly, relative  to  the  imagery,  under  the  rubrics,  III,  very  vivid;  II,  mod- 
erately vivid ;  I,  faint ;  o,  no  imagery  of  the  given  kind,  as  was  done  by 
Mi<s  Martin's  subjects  (10:  18),  enables  one  to  determine  the  part  played 
by  imagery  in  the  enjoyment  of  poetry.  Table  X  shows  the  influence  of  the 
various  degrees  of  imagery  upon  this  judgment  for  all  the  Wyoming 
subjects  except  G,  who  did  not  make  the  groupings.  The  grades  of  pleas- 
ant-unpleasantness are  represented  by  +3,  +2,  +i  and  so  on,  and  the  vividness 
of  the  imagery  is  represented  by  III,  II,  I,  and  o.  Glancing  at  the  table 
one  is  able  to  see  the  number  of  fragments  for  each  reagent  that  gave 
vivid  imagery,  that  were  also  found  to  be  very  pleasant,  moderately  pleas- 
ant and  so  on. 

The  combined  results  of  the  table  show  that  imagery  and,  particularly, 
vivid  imagery,  is  an  important  factor  in  the  affective  judgment  on  literature, 
although,  perhaps,  less  important  than  in  the  judgment  on  pictures  (10:  20). 
It  is  apparently  much  more  significant  than  Betts  concluded  from  his  ques- 
tionnaire investigation  (2:90).  Imagery  is  not,  however,  the  only  factor 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 

TABLE  X. 


Reagent 

-1-3 

-1-2 

-1-1 

0 

? 

—  1 

—  2 

—  3 

Total 

A 

Ill 
II 
I 
0 

24 
0 
1 
0 

10 
1 
3 
0 

8 

2 
7 
0 

3 

8 
8 
6 

0 
1 
0 
0 

2 
0 
12 
0 

2 
0 
9 
0 

3 
0 

6 
0 

47 
12 
46 
5 

Total.... 

25 

14 

12 

24 

1 

14 

11 

9 

110 

B 

III 
II 
I 
0 

6 

1 
0 
0 

5 
5 
3 
0 

3 
6 

5 
2 

2 
4 
8 
11 

2 

7 
5 
3 

4 

7 
4 
1 

'  5 
3 
0 
1 

6 
2 
0 
0 

32 
35 
25 
18 

Total.... 

6 

13 

16 

25 

17 

16 

9 

8 

110 

C 

III 
II 

I 
0 

16 

7 
3 

1 

4 
5 
3 
2 

3 

4 
2 
1 

0 
7 
11 
10 

1 
4 
4 
1 

2 
5 
5 
0 

2 
0 
2 
1 

1 
1 
1 

1 

29 
33 
31 
17 

Total.... 

27 

14 

10 

28 

10 

12 

5 

4 

110 

D 

III 
11 
I 

0  . 

13 
7 
6 
4 

10 
8 
15 
4 

3 
4 
6 
5 

0 
3 

1 
0 

2 
3 
3 
0 

1 
2 
3 
0 

1 
1 

0 
0 

1 
2 

1 
1 

31 
30 
35 
14 

Total.... 

30 

37 

18 

4 

8 

6 

2 

5 

110 

E 

Ill 
II 
I 

0 

3 
9 
3 
0 

5 
9 
3 

1 

6 
5 
8 
0 

2 
3 

2 

1 

6 
1 
5 
1 

3 
6 
9 
2 

1 
2 
6 
1 

0 
4 
2 

1 

26 
39 
38 

7 

Total.... 

15 

18 

19 

8 

13 

20 

10 

7 

110 

F 

III 
II 

I 

0 

1 
2 
0 
1 

1 
3 
5 
2 

6 
5 
10 
6 

0 
2 

4 
6 

0 

2 
7 
4 

0 
1 
8 
6 

0 

1 

4 
10 

0 

4 
2 
7 

8 
20 
40 

42 

Total.... 

4 

11 

27 

12 

13 

15 

15 

13 

110 

Com- 
bined 

III 
II 
I 

0 

62 
26 
13 
6 

35 
31 
32 
9 

24 
26 
38 
14 

7 
27 
34 
33 

11 
18 
24 
9 

12 
21 
41 
9 

11 
7 
21 
•13 

11 
13 
12 
10 

173 
169 
215 
103 

Total.... 

107 

107 

102 

101 

62 

83 

52 

46 

660 

influencing  the  judgment.  There  are,  moreover,  individual  differences  in 
the  degree  to  which  it  serves  as  a  determinant  of  this  judgment.  A's 
results  show  most  clearly  the  effect  of  vividness  of  imagery  (in  her  case 
the  classification  is  determined  chiefly  by  visual  imagery)  upon  the  judg- 
ment of  pleasantness.  Vivid  imagery  may  lead  to  the  judgment  unpleasant 
if  the  visualization  results  in  a  fantastic  or  ridiculous  picture,  such  as  often 
happens  from  A's  tendency  to  visualize  all  phrases,  however  abstract  or 
figurative.  Faint  visual  imagery  resulting  from  an  abortive  .  attempt  to 
visualize  the  situation  also  gives  unpleasantness.  On  account  of  the  vivid- 
ness and  persistence  of  her  imagery,  A  prefers  a  detailed  and  prolonged 
description  to  one  that  suggests  rapidly  shifting  images.  Keats'  device  of 
repeating  a  given  suggestion,  as  in  19,  she  finds  very  unpleasant;  the  rich- 
ness of  imagery  in  which  it  results  is  fatiguing,  cloying. 

In  testing  the  Chicago  subjects,  three  different  arrangements  on  the 
basis  of  the  affective  judgment  were  procured  in  connection  with  one  ar- 
rangement each  for  vividness  of  (i)  visual  imagery,  (2)  auditory  imagery, 
and  (3)  of  kinaesthetic,  organic,  cutaneous,  and  olfactory  imagery,  in  the 
hope  not  only  of  showing  the  relation  of  imagery  to  the  affective  judgment 


THE  IMACINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 


but  also  of  determining  how  far  the  individual  differences  in  imagery  pre- 
disposition influence  the  affective  judgment. 

The  imagery  reports  showed  that  I  and  J  possessed  rich  and  varied 
imagery  with,  however,  visual  imagery  as  the  chief  determinant.  K  was 
definitely  visual,  with  little  interest  in  content  other  than  visual.  L  was 
preoccupied  with  cutaneous,  olfactory,  organic,  and  auditory  material.  M 
showed  a  strong  disposition  to  react  with  kinaesthetic  content.  How  far, 
one  questions,  would  such  individual  differences  affect  the  aesthetic  reaction? 
To  what  extent  would  the  appeal  to  the  predispositional  form  of  imagery 
be  particularly  effective?  Or  would  an  appeal  to  less  habitual  content  be 
more  pleasing? 

The  attempt  to  answer  these  questions  was  not  wholly  successful,  partly 
because  of  the  fact  that  with  the  rereading  of  the  fragments,  the  second 
and  third  arrangements  were  at  a  disadvantage.  This  was  particularly 
true  in  the  case  of  M,  who  on  the  first  reading  found  twenty-seven  frag- 
ments indifferent,  forty-four  indifferent  on  the  second  reading,  and  sixty- 
five  on  the  third.  He  reported  also  that  the  richness  of  kinaesthetic  and 
organic  imagery  was  by  the  third  reading  greatly  reduced  because  of  his 
familiarity  with  the  fragments.  Even  so,  the  effect  of  his  preferred  form 
of  reaction  is  evident  in  the  third  table.  To  a  great  extent,  however,  M's 
judgment  of  pleasantness  or  unpleasantness  was  determined  by  the  logical 
congruity  or  incongruity  of  the  wording. 

TABLE  XI. 
VISUAL  INTENSITY. 


Rragent 

-1-3 

-|-2 

-1-1 

0 

T 

—  1 

—  2 

—  3 

Total 

Ill 

9 

0 

2 

0 

1 

2 

0 

0 

14 

I 

II 

9 

4 

4 

0 

3 

0 

0 

0 

17 

I 

14 

I 

5 

7 

10 

4 

0 

0 

• 

0 

0 

4 

2 

2 

1 

2 

0 

0 

11 

Total.... 

29 

17 

13 

» 

21 

8 

0 

0 

97 

III 

5 

0 

4 

1 

9 

6 

1 

2 

S3 

J 

II 

4 

9 

7 

6 

8 

2 

6 

1 

41 

I 

0 

1 

9 

4 

•• 

3 

1 

1 

24 

0 

0 

0 

1 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

t 

Total.... 

» 

16 

21 

11 

22 

10 

7 

4 

100 

III 

6 

0 

| 
2                  1 

1 

2 

t 

0 

19 

K 

II 

6 

6 

3                  3 

1 

2 

2 

3 

24 

I 

0 

8 

2 

2 

1 

0 

4 

7 

19 

0 

2 

10 

6 

4 

0 

2 

8 

IS 

38 

Total.... 

It 

24 

•J 

10 

3 

0 

11 

22 

100 

in 

0 

2 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

2 

L 

ii 

6 

0 

6 

0 

3 

2 

4 

t 

27 

i 

8 

8 

8 

4 

11 

7 

4 

t 

47 

0 

I 

9 

t 

1 

0 

8 

7 

1 

24 

Total...  . 

9 

19 

U 

5 

20 

It 

15 

ft 

100 

in 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0                 0 

0 

M 

ii 

* 

0 

4 

1 

0 

2 

1                 1 

12 

i 

I 

ft 

3 

« 

0 

0 

2                 0 

29 

0 

I 

t 

12 

to 

0 

10 

ft                 t 

B» 

Total...  . 

ft 

8 

19 

27 

It 

18 

•               9 

100 

III 

19 

14 

8 

2 

11 

9 

8 

t 

08 

Com- 

II 

• 

24 

23 

» 

II 

8 

It 

7 

in 

MMd 

I 

18 

28 

27 

23 

39 

20 

11 

10 

174 

« 

« 

20 

22 

28 

13 

17 

IB 

U 

134 

Total.... 

04 

84 

80 

« 

78 

M 

41 

84 

487 

THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 


33 


TABLE  XII. 
AUDITORY  INTENSITY. 


Reagent 

-|-3 

-!-2 

-|-1 

0 

? 

—  1 

-2 

—  3 

Total 

Ill 

2 

1 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

4 

1 

II 

4 

2 

2 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

8 

I 

8 

2 

2 

2 

3 

0 

0 

0 

17 

0 

18 

12 

11 

8 

14 

7 

0 

() 

70 

Total.... 

32 

17 

15 

10 

18 

7 

0 

0 

99 

III 

1 

3 

0 

0 

2 

1 

3 

0 

10 

J 

II 

1 

4 

4 

2 

6 

2 

1 

2 

22 

I 

0 

3  ' 

5 

3 

6 

4 

2 

0 

23 

0 

3 

5 

11 

9 

10 

3 

2 

0 

45 

Total.... 

5 

15 

20 

14 

24 

12 

8. 

2 

100 

III 

1 

2 

1 

4 

1 

2 

1 

0 

12 

K 

II 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

9 

I 

3 

1 

0 

1 

0 

1 

0 

0 

6 

0 

3 

17 

11 

8 

11 

14 

5 

4 

73 

Total.... 

8 

21 

13 

14 

13 

19 

7 

5 

100 

III 

0 

1 

1 

0 

1 

2 

0 

1 

6 

L 

II 

2 

2 

7 

0 

3 

5 

1 

0 

20 

I 

2 

9 

10 

0 

8 

6 

3 

1 

39 

0 

0 

2 

7 

5 

f. 

7 

3 

2 

32 

Total.... 

4 

14 

25 

5 

18 

20 

7 

4 

97 

III 

1 

3 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

5 

M 

II 

1 

1 

3 

3 

1 

0 

0 

0 

9 

I 

0 

3 

6 

6 

1 

1 

1 

0 

17 

0 

1 

4 

13 

36 

3 

10 

2 

0 

69 

Total.... 

3 

11 

23 

44 

5 

11 

3 

0 

100 

III 

5 

10 

3 

4 

5 

5 

4 

1 

37 

Com- 

II 

9 

10 

17 

6 

11 

9 

3 

3 

68 

bined 

I 

13 

18 

23 

11 

18 

12 

6 

1 

102 

0 

25 

40 

53 

66 

44 

43 

12 

6 

289 

Total.... 

52 

78 

96 

87 

78 

69 

25 

11 

496 

Tables  XI,  XII  and  XIII  summarize  the  results  for  the  Chicago  sub- 
jects. With  K,  it  is  evident  that  visual  imagery  contributes  to  the  judgment 
of  pleasantness  to  a  higher  degree  than  does  any  other  form  of  imagery 
reaction.  K  reports  that  she  enjoys  painting  but  does  not  care  at  all  for 
music.  With  I,  visual  imagery  and  cutaneous,  organic,  and  kinaesthetic 
reactions  were  more  significant  than  the  auditory.  J  also  shows  the  effect 
of  visual  imagery  upon  the  affective  judgment;  his  case  is,  however,  inter- 
esting in  that  vividness  of  the  different  sorts  of  imagery  apparently  con- 
tributes to  the  ambiguity  of  the  affective  judgment,  the  reaction  is  partly 
pleasant,  partly  unpleasant.  L,  showed  the  effect  upon  her  affective  judg- 
ment of  organic,  cutaneous,  olfactory,  and  kinaesthetic  material.  She  often 
commented  upon  such  material  as  strikingly  pleasant,  or,  if  too  intense,  and 
reproduction  of  a  disagreeable  sensation,  as  unpleasant.  These  results  show 
the  effect  upon  the  judgment  of  the  type-form  of  imagery. 

The  combined  tables  makes  very  evident  the  affective  waning  of  the 
material  with  repetition.  Visual  imagery  appears  in  general  to  have  more 
influence  in  determining  the  pleasantness-unpleasantness  of  the  fragments 
than  has  other  kind  of  imagery. 

The  influence  of  the  different .  forms  of  imagery  upon  the  judgment 
of  pleasantness  may  be  shown  for  both  groups  by  the  following  observa- 
tion. If  the  twenty  fragments  that  are  held  to  be  the  most  pleasant  of 
the  one  hundred  fragments,  determined  by  their  position  in  an  arrangement 


34 


THE  IMACINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 


TABLE  XIII. 
INTENSITY  07  ORGANIC,  CUTANEOUS.  OLFACTORY.  POSTURE  AND  MOVEMENT  REACTIONS. 


Kragrnt 

-1-8 

-Ht 

-Hi 

0 

T 

—  1 

-1 

-8 

Total 

I 

HI 
II 
I 
0 

4 

9 
10 

8 

4 
4 

11 

1 
5 

10 

0 

1 

1 

I 
0 

0 

1 
1 

8 

0 
0 
0 
0 

0 
0 
0 
0 

10 
11 
87 
81 

Total.... 

IB 

• 

* 

10 

8 

6 

0 

0 

100 

3 

III 

n 
i 

0 

1 
0 
0 
0 

1 
8 

4 
4 

1 

8 
8 

0 

1 
1 

18 

6 
10 
7 
5 

2 
2 
7 
6 

1 
1 

1 

0 

1 
1 

1 

0 

18 
17 
16 
85 

Total.... 

1 

11 

10 

17 

28 

M 

8 

8 

100 

K* 

in 
n 
i 

0 

0 
0 
0 
4 

0 
0 

1 

0 
0 

1 
11 

0 
1 
8 
17 

0 
0 
1 
17 

0 
0 
0 
10 

0 
0 
0 

7 

0 
0 

1 

7 

0 

1 

8 
90 

Total.... 

4 

8 

18 

n 

18 

20 

7 

8 

99 

L 

III 
II 
I 

0 

4 
1 
0 
0 

3 
8 
7 

1 

2 
5 
10 
6 

0000) 

5 
2 
6 
8 

5 
11 

a 
i 

4 

2 
2 
0 

1 
1 
0 
0 

14 
80 
83 

13 

Total.... 

6 

10 

21 

1 

18 

23 

8 

1 

100 

M 

HI 

II 
I 

0 

0 
8 
1 
4 

0 

•• 

4 
7 

0 
1 
1 
2 

0 
9 
19 

37 

0 
0 
0 
2 

0 
2 
3 
2 

0 
0 
0 
0 

0000 

0 
17 
29 
64 

Total.... 

9 

18 

4 

86 

2 

7 

0 

0 

100 

Com- 

•  •  •  ! 

III 
It 
I 

0 

9 
13 
11 
11 

8 

17 

25 

4 

19 
24 
87 

0 
13 
25 
77 

12 
12 
21 

7 
17 
17 
81 

5 

•  x 

3 

7 

2 
2 

S 
7 

47 
98 

m 

124 

Total.... 

45 

78 

84 

115 

74 

72 

18 

18 

499 

•Note  7:— In  this  case  K'»  arrangement  relative  to  th«  vividness  of  the  Imaginal  reaction  was. 
through  some  mUtake,  made  wholly  on  the  basis  of  the  klnaesthetlc  factor. 

of  the  fragments  in  an  order  of  pleasantness  as  described  in  the  next  sec- 
tion, be  inspected,  it  will  be  seen  that  only  three  of  the  twenty  are  fragments 
of  which  the  visual  translation  is  unimportant,  as  shown  by  a  summary 
of  the  kind  and  number  of  images  reported  for  each  fragment.  These 
three  fragments  are  u,  56,  and  20.  11  is  chosen  because  of  its  verbal 
beauty  or  its  charming  auditory  imagery.  56  causes  a  pleasant  kinaesthetic 
relaxation  and  is  pleasing  verbally.  20  brings  a  delightful  organic  reaction. 
Of  the  other  seventeen  fragments  (105,  70,  82,  46,  74,  2,  3,  92,  8,  89,  67, 
98,  79,  97,  16,  53,  113)  all  give  a  visual  reaction  but  this  visual  reaction 
is  particularly  essential  for  the  pictorial  fragments,  70,  82,  74,  67,  and  3. 
92,  a  highly  pleasant  fragment,  gives  no  reaction  other  than  the  visual. 
Very  rich  imagery,  of  many  sorts,  is  recorded  for  46,  74,  2,  8,  89,  98,  16, 

53.  "3- 

Strangely  enough,  the  fragments  that  a  summary  of  images  shows 
to  be  particularly  effective  in  the  arousal  of  auditory  images  (87,  33.  u. 
16,  19,  86)  are  represented  in  the  most  pleasant  group  by  only  16  and  1 1 . 

The  olfactory  fragments  are  represented  by  46,  8,  113,  16,  53.  In 
fact,  of  the  fragments  that  succeeded  in  arousing  olfactory  imagery  to 
any  degree,  only  47,  78,  and  109  (unpleasant)  fail  to  appear  in  this  group. 
Such  a  result  evidences  the  degree  to  which  olfactory  imagery  contributes 
to  the  affective  reaction. 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  35 

The  strongly  cutaneous  fragments  are  represented  by  74,  2,  98,  53,  and 
8;  the  kinaesthetic  fragments  by  2,  98,  and  74;  the  organic  by  113,  20, 
and  98. 

In  general,  one  is  surprised  at  the  excess  of  olfactory,  cutaneous,  and 
visual  fragments  over  the  auditory  and  kinaesthetic. 

An  inspection  of  the  twenty  fragments  that  are  most  unpleasant  shows 
less  frequency  of  visual  imagery.  The  number  of  visual  images  per  frag- 
ment is  noticeably  less  than  in  the  pleasant  group.  Fragments  29,  45,  and 
47  show,  however,  a  visual  reaction  for  every  reagent.  The  most  effective 
auditory  fragments  are  not  represented  in  this  group  but,  among  its  frag- 
ments, 4,  36,  28,  45,  60,  and  24  give  considerable  auditory  reaction.  The 
olfactory  and  gustatory  fragments  are  represented  by  109  and  108.  The 
organic  and  pain  fragments  by  65,  25,  13,  62,  and  36;  the  cutaneous  frag- 
ments by  13,  36,  45,  29,  and  96;  the  kinaesthetic  fragments  by  29  and  93. 
Fragments  29,  45,  36,  and  96  are  rich  in  imagery.  Apparently,  the  most 
important  factor  in  determining  the  unpleasant  reaction  is  the  organic 
reaction. 

The  influence  of  the  so-called  lower  senses  upon  the  affective  reaction 
is  evident  in  both  the  pleasant  and  the  unpleasant  group. 

Miss  Martin  (10:23)  recognizing  the  frequent  discrepancy  between 
the  judgment  of  pleasantness-unpleasantness  and  that  based  on  imagery- 
vividness,  procured  an  introspective  report  from  the  reagent,  in  the  case 
of  such  discrepancy,  of  the  motive  that  led  to  the  affective  judgment.  The 
same  precaution  was  taken  in  the  present  investigation.  The  factors,  other 
than  imagery,  that  determine  this  judgment  may  be  discussed  under  the 
following  heads:  (i)  The  influence  of  the  inner  speech;  (2)  The  influ- 
ence of  the  emotional  tone;  (3)  The  influence  of  the  logical  aspect;  (4) 
The  influence  of  familiarity  or  novelty. 

(1)  Poetry,   unlike  the  other  arts,   appeals  to   the   imagination   only 
through  the  mediation  of  an  imaginal  or  semi-imaginal  element, — that  of  the 
inner  speech.    Thus  a  double  train  of  imagery,  the  verbal  and  the  concrete, 
may  be  experienced  for  every  fragment.     The  affective  and  the  aesthetic 
judgment  may  then  be  determined  partly  by  the  concrete  imagery  aroused, 
partly  by  the  sensuous  content  of  the  inner  speech.    Unfortunately,  no  spe- 
cific tests  were  made  to  determine  the  influence  of  the  verbal  content  upon 
the  affective  judgment,  but  subjects  frequently  commented  upon  this  aspect 
of  a  fragment  as  that  of  most  significance.     Sometimes,  indeed,  a  conflict 
was  noticed  between  the  two  aspects  of  the  fragment.     Verbally,  the  frag- 
ment might  be  classed  as  +3 ;    while  on  the  concrete  side  it  was  distinctly 
unpleasant.     I,  who  frequently  remarked  the  rhythm  and  word-melody  of 
the  fragments,  reported  that  his  basis  of  judgment  often  shifted  from  the 
concrete  imagery  or  meaning  side  to  that  of  verbal  charm.    J,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  often  annoyed  by  too  emphatic  rhyme  or  rhythm,  a  detail  which 
sometimes  lowered  the  pleasure  of  the  concrete  imagery.    Of  the  first  group 
of  subjects,  B,  D,  C,  and  F  were  sensitive  to  the  nuances  of  the  inner  speech. 

(2)  The  emotional  tone  of  a  particular  fragment  was  also  influential  in 
determining  the  affective  judgment.     Mueller-Freienfels  has  urged,  indeed, 
that  one  of  the  chief  individual  differences  shown  in  art  creation  and  appre- 
ciation is  to  be  found  in  the  kind  of  emotion  whose  expression  is  desired. 
In  general,  the  degree  to  which,  at  a  particular  epoch,  the  unpleasant  is  ad- 
mitted as  artistic;    the  degree  to  which  the  "luxury  of  woe"  is  enjoyed, 
limits   the  extent  to  which  naturalism,   in   contrast   to  idealism,   may  be 
developed. 

Individual  preferences  relative  to  the  emotional  tone  of  a  fragment 
were  very  evident  in  the  present  test.  D  manifested  the  greatest  liking  for 
melancholy  fragments.  She  found  the  expression  of  sad  emotions  very 


36  THK  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 

pleasing.  Her  greatest  variation  from  the  average  of  the  group  as  a  whole 
is  found  in  the  case  of  judgments  on  such  fragments  as  5,  31,  34,  28,  65,  and 
29.  Many  of  these  preferences,  as  for  5,  31,  34,  and  28,  are  shared  by  I. 
Otherwise,  the  group  found  the  emotional  tone  of  such  fragments  highly 
unpleasant. 

Painful  and  sad  suggestions  were  particularly  distasteful  to  A,  I.,  and  K 
L  reported  that  stirring  poetry  was  enjoyed  when  she  felt  in  "fit"  condition ; 
when  fatigued,  she  preferred  restful,  reposeful  lines. 

(3)  The  affective  judgment  was  also  influenced  by  the  logical  reaction  to 
a  fragment.    Again  and  again,  a  fragment  that  lacked  meaning  or  one  whose 
meaning  was  not  at  once  evident  was,  for  that  reason,  classed  as  unpleasant. 
M  laid  the  greatest  stress  upon  what  he  called  "logical  incongruity".'    Some 
of  the  most  imaginative  figures  were  displeasing  to  him  because  of  their 
verbal  incongruity.    A  also  showed  impatience  with  the  fantastic. 

The  general  dissatisfaction  of  the  group  as  a  whole  with  the  strikingly 
synaesthetic  passages  may  be  mentioned  in  this  connection.  Fragment  54, 
from  Swinburne,  "Light  heard  as  music,  music  seen  as  light",  repeatedly 
brought  the  comment,  "I  can't  see  music  nor  hear  light." 

Again,  a  confusion  of  sense-qualities  as  in  72  and  96  was  found  un- 
pleasant. 

(4)  The  influence  of  familiarity  and  novelty  upon  the  affective  judg- 
ment has  already  been  shown  in  the  degree  to  which  the  pleasantness  of  the 
fragments  waned  with  rereading.  Again,  according  to  Mueller-Freienfels,  the 
demand  for  the  new  or  the  old  in  art-expression  is  a  significant  individual 
difference.    Those  who  demand  novelty  are  interested  in  the  content-side; 
those  who  demand  the  familiar  are  interested  in  form.     From  the  present 
test,  one  may  not  draw  general  conclusions  as  to  the  individual  differences 
in  this  respect.    L  and  I  showed,  however,  an  interest  in  repetition  that  was 
Tacking  for  J  and  M. 

2.      THE   VARIABILITY   OF   THE   AFFECTIVE   JUDGMENT. 

A  series  of  three  arrangements  into  eight  groups  of  the  one  hundred 
fragments  (fifty  at  a  session),  on  the  basis  of  their  pleasantness-unpleas- 
antness, was  made,  as  described  above,  by  the  Chicago  subjects  with  a  week- 
interval  between  the  arrangements.  •  Table  XIII  of  the  preceding  section 
shows  how  greatly  the  series  as  a  whole  waned  in  value  with  repetition  of  the 
judgment.  There  is  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  fragments  marked  very  or 
moderately  pleasant,  and  an  increase  in  the  number  of  indifferent  fragments, 
and  in  those  slightly  pleasant  or  unpleasant.  This  waning  in  the  degree  of 
positive  affective  value  is  marked  for  M,  K,  and  J.  L  shows  exceedingly 
little  loss  of  affective  value  in  the  case  of  the  pleasant  fragments,  but  there 
is  a  slight  tendency  for  the  unpleasant  fragments  to  become  less  unpleasant 
on  rereading.  With  repetition,  there  is  a  slight  increase  in  pleasantness  for  I. 
These  conclusions  drawn  from  the  table  are  of  interest  in  connection  wjth 
observations  made  at  the  time  of  the  experiment.  M  and  J,  and  K  to  a  less 
degree,  found  the  repetition  of  the  test  irksome  and  monotonous ;  L  and  I 
found  such  repetition  pleasant. 

In  order  to  compare  these  results  with  those  obtained  from  the  Wyo- 
ming group,  four  of  the  latter  reagents  (A,  C,  D,  and  E),  with  N  (Professor 
of  English  Literature)  as  a  fifth  reagent,  made  in  all  three  arrangements  of 
the  one  hundred  fragments  into  the  groups  named  above,  namely,  +3,  +2, 
etc.  In  the  case  of  these  subjects,  however,  several  weeks  elapsed  between 
the  first  and  second  arrangement  and  several  months  between  the  second 
and  third  arrangement,  except  in  the  case  of  N,  who  made  the  arrangements 
at  two-weeks  intervals.  Table  XIV  summarizes  the  number  of  fragments 
placed  by  each  reagent  in  each  group  for  each  of  the  three  trials.  There  is 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 


37 


some  slight  evidence  of  waning  value  for  the  series  as  a  whole,  particularly 
evident  in  a  comparison  of  the  second  with  the  first  arrangement.  The  wan- 
ing, however,  is  by  no  means  so  pronounced  as  for  the  other  group  of  sub- 
jects. Individual  differences  are  also  less  noticeable.  No  doubt  the  short 
time-interval  in  the  case  of  the  Chicago  group  accounts  in  part  for  the 
greater  waning,  but  only  in  part. 

A  survey  of  the  tables  shows  also  that  the  series  as  a  whole  on  the 
first  as  well  as  on  the  second  and  third  reading,  resulted  in  a  much  smaller 
number  of  "very  pleasant"  judgments  from  the  Chicago  than  from  the 
Wyoming  group.  I  is  the  only  member  of  the  Chicago  group  whose  judg- 
ments of  "very  pleasant"  approached  in  number  those  of  several  of  the 
Wyoming  group.  This  fact  is  probably  explained  by  I's  great  love  of 
poetry.  Of  the  Wyoming  group,  D,  C,  and  N  were  very  fond  of  poetry. 
This  interest  in  the  material  apparently  operated  in  maintaining  the  af- 
fective value,  as  is  shown  particularly  in  the  case  of  I,  whose  reports  show 
no  evidence  of  a  waning  in  value  of  the  series,  even  with  a  short  interval 
between  arrangements. 

TABLE  xrv. 

NUMBER  OF  FRAGMENTS  IN  EACH  GROUP.    WYOMING  REAGENTS. 


Reagent 

Arrangement 

-1-3 

-|-2 

-|-1 

0 

? 

—  1 

—  2 

—  3 

Total 

First  

24 

11 

11 

22 

1 

14 

6 

11 

100 

A 

Second  

21 

14 

10 

21 

1 

13 

11 

9 

100 

Third  

15 

16 

11 

14 

6 

12 

11 

15 

100 

First  

28 

12 

30 

6 

2 

1 

13 

8 

100 

c 

Second  

25 

10 

8 

27 

9 

12 

5 

4 

100 

Third  

37 

13 

5 

7 

16 

11 

6 

5 

100 

First  

35 

28 

17 

m 

6 

5 

1 

1 

100 

D 

Second  

30 

35 

12 

4 

7 

6 

1 

5 

100 

Third  

25 

27 

21 

7 

7 

9 

3 

1 

100 

First  

16 

26 

13 

8 

9 

8 

8 

12 

100 

E 

Second  

14 

17 

16 

8 

10 

19 

9 

7 

100 

Third  

12 

22 

18 

2 

16 

15 

7 

8 

100 

First  

30 

14 

4 

6 

30 

g 

5 

3 

100 

N 

Second  

30 

10 

3 

2 

40 

3 

6 

6 

100 

Third  

32 

3 

1 

6 

38 

8 

g 

3 

100 

Com- 

First   

133 

91 

75 

49 

48 

36 

33 

35 

500 

bined 

Second  

120 

86 

49 

62 

67 

53 

32 

31 

500 

Third  

121 

81 

56 

36 

83 

55 

36 

32 

500 

In  order  to  determine  the  relative  affective  value  of  the  different  frag- 
ments, the  variation  of  each  subject  from  the  average  of  the  group,  and  his 
variability  from  his  own  standard,  the  arrangement  of  the  fragments  under 
the  heads  +3,  +2,  +i,  o,  ?,  — I,  — 2,  — 3  was  treated  as  equivalent  to  an 
arrangement  into  eight  groups,  i  (+3)  representing  the  highest  degree  of 
pleasantness  and  grading  down  through  4  (o),  indifference,  to  8  ( — 3),  a 
high  degree  of  unpleasantness.  The  grouping  under  the  rubrics  given  as 
+3,  +2,  and  so  on,  produced  a  definite  shading  of  the  judgment  both  to  and 
from  a  point  of  indifference.  Such  a  shading  probably  occurs  in  most  ar- 
rangements of  stimuli  on  the  basis  of  affective  tone  (7:142),  so  that  its 
explicit  assumption  in  the  present  series  may  be  of  value  in  throwing  light 
upon  the  characteristics  of  a  series  where  the  change  from  positive  pref- 
erence to  positive  dislike  is  shaded  in  both  directions  towards  a  neutral 
point.  The  significance  of  the  ?  judgments  in  this  connection  is  doubtful. 
Only  two  subjects,  J  and  N,  made  extensive  use  of  it  as  a  sort  of  catch-all 
for  their  critical  reaction  to  details.  The  other  reagents  appeared  to  use 
the  ?  judgment  as  indeed  a  transitional  form  between  indifference  and  posi- 
tive unpleasantness.  This  statement  is  supported  by  the  fact  that  with  the 
waning  of  affective  value,  there  is  for  a  number  of  reagents  an  increase  not 


38  THE  IMACINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 

only  in  the  o  judgments,  but  also  in  the  ?  judgments.  In  any  case,  however, 
one  needs  to  hold  in  mind  the  ?  judgment  as  a  possible  objection  to  using  the 
series  as  a  whole  as  a  strictly  shaded  arrangement. 

In  determining  for  the  first  arrangement  the  affective  value  of  each 
fragment  by  calculating  the  final  position  assigned  it  as  indicated  by  the 
average  position  and  the  mean  variation  of  the  arrangements  of  the  ten 
reagents,  the  only  uncertainty  lies  in  the  use  of  the  ?  judgment  as  equivalent 
to  the  fifth  position.  In  the  repeated  arrangements,  the  variation  in  the  time 
elapsing  between  the  consecutive  arrangements  for  different  subjects,  partic- 
ularly in  the  case  of  the  three  subjects  for  whom  the  series  waned  greatly  in 
value,  introduces  another  uncertainty  in  estimating  the  results.  With  these 
limitations  in  mind,  we  may  consider  Table  XV,  which  gives  the  average 
position,  the  mean  variation,  and  the  final  position  of  each  of  the  one  hun- 
dred fragments  for  each  of  the  three  trials. 

The  first  point  of  interest  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  average  mean 
variation  in  the  first  arrangement  is  1.45.  Hollingsworth  (7:143)  has  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  in  an  arrangement  on  the  subjective  basis,  the 
MV 

(where  P— the  number  of  possible  positions)  is  "with  various  kinds  of 

P 

material,  with  different  groups  of  observers  and  with  a  widely  ranging  value 
for  P,  usually  .20,  and  this  with  high  reliability."  In  the  present  test,  the 

MV 

is  1.81,  a  value  which  does  not  depart  widely  from  that  given  by  Hol- 

P 

lingsworth.  It  may,  then,  be  concluded  that  the  use  of  the  ?  judgment  as 
equivalent  to  5  has  not  introduced  great  error  in  the  calculation. 

With  the  repetition  of  the  arrangements,  the  M.  V.  fell  to  1.29  in  the 

MV 
second  arrangement  and  to  1.33  in  the  third  arrangement,  or was  re- 


TABLE  xv. 


lint  Trial 

1 

Second  Tria 

1 

? 

Phlrd  Trla 

1 

Number 

Avirafe 

M.  V. 

Position 

Average 

M    V 

Position 

Average 

H.  V. 

Position 

1.0 

.71 

6 

.7 

7 

t 

1.9 

.71 

4 

1 

.43 

7 

.7 

M 

a 

1.4 

1.04 

18 

6.7 

.14) 

• 

.8 

.06 

97 

6.7 

1.08 

94 

4.7 

.1 

79 

.1 

.7 

80 

6 

1 

a 

8.3 

.» 

41 

.7 

.10 

44 

8.1 

1.14 

a 

t.8 

17 

.7 

.9 

17 

S.6 

1.70 

48 

1 

10 

.5 

.1 

23 

1.1 

1.04 

10 

M 

.04 

09 

.8 

.SI 

09 

4.6 

1.1 

07 

M 

4.3 

.» 

78 

.4 

.4 

41 

3.0 

.92 

44 

11 

t 

J 

8 

.7 

.60 

1 

1.8 

.48 

1 

12 

4.3 

.14 

••« 

.4 

67 

4.1 

1.10 

69 

ia 

8.1 

.04 

98 

.05 

.35 

98 

0.1 

i.a 

97 

u 

1.9 

.a 

n 

.6 

.8 

90 

1.8 

1.4 

a 

is 

4.1 

.16 

71 

.* 

66 

4.1 

1.8 

« 

M 

J.4 

M 

17 

.9 

.6 

81 

1.7 

1.6 

a 

IT 

4.1 

.9 

07 

.7 

.5 

40 

4.3 

1.3 

01 

18 

4.1 

.14 

04 

.9 

.11 

88 

4.3 

1.08 

00 

It 

2.0 

.14 

11 

.1 

88 

3.1 

1.64 

a 

• 

M 

.0 

19 

.8 

.« 

16 

1.3 

.70 

16 

• 

l.o 

.M 

0 

.6 

a 

1.4 

.08 

17 

a 

4.1 

.a 

06 

.1 

.11 

00 

4.3 

1.6 

01 

• 

t.9 

.a 

88 

.1 

.14 

06 

4.8 

1.80 

a 

» 

8.1 

M 

80 

.0 

.4 

74 

6.1 

1.14 

a 

M 

1.7 

.04 

M 

.9 

.9 

10 

1.1 

.91 

8 

17 

«.7 

.14 

68 

.4 

.48 

19 

8 

1.1 

31 

a 

6.» 

.1 

>       89 

4.8 

.08 

78 

4.0 

1.68 

n 

» 

4.9 

.6 

81 

5.5 

.9 

M 

6.4 

2.32 

91 

ao 

l.T 

.14) 

"    i 

i      '^ 

.88 

4g 

3.0 

i.a 

40 

THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 


39 


TABLE  XV— Continued. 


First  Trial 

Second  Trial 

Third  Trial 

Number 

Average 

M.  V. 

Position 

Average 

M.  V. 

Position 

Averrge 

M.  V. 

Position 

yi 

3.7 

2.44 

54 

3.8 

1.84 

51 

3.7 

1.62 

51 

32 

4.1 

2.08 

68 

4.1 

1.12 

61 

3 

1 

29 

33 

3.4 

2.08 

47 

3.8 

1.8 

50 

3 

1.6 

32 

34 

3.9 

2.08 

60 

3.3 

1.98 

39 

3.7 

1.76 

52 

36 

5.6 

1.88 

91 

5.2 

2 

89 

5 

2.2 

85 

37 

3  3 

1.42 

40 

4.1 

1.7 

63 

4 

2.2 

56 

38 

3.5 

1.8 

49 

3.3 

1.36 

38 

3.5 

1 

40 

39 

3.8 

1.24 

56 

4.5 

.8 

72 

3.9 

.76 

56 

40 

4 

1.8 

63 

4.9 

1.72 

81 

4.6 

2 

73 

41 

3  2 

1 

35 

3.4 

1.32 

40 

3.5 

1 

41 

42 

4^2 

1.96 

71 

3.7 

1.7 

47 

4.3 

1.9 

64 

43 

6.7 

1.42 

99 

6.5 

.8 

99 

6.4 

1.32 

99 

^4 

5.9 

1.72 

95 

5.1 

1.88 

87 

5.2 

2 

89 

45 

5.4 

1.84 

88 

4.9 

1.92 

82 

5 

2 

84 

46 

1.8 

.96 

4 

1.8 

.8 

5 

1.8 

.8 

3 

47 

6.2 

.88 

97 

5.4 

1.28 

90 

5.5 

1 

92 

48 

5.7 

1.44 

94 

4.7 

1.24 

75 

6 

1.2 

80 

49 

3.3 

2.22 

43 

2.2 

1.24 

14 

2.2 

1.24 

12 

50 

3.6 

1.88 

51 

3.9 

1.14 

53    • 

3.6 

1.4 

47 

51 

4.8 

1.48 

80 

4.5 

1.2 

73 

4.7 

1.5 

75 

52 

2.9 

1.28 

30 

2.6 

1.2 

24 

3.1 

1.56 

34 

63 

2.4 

1.76 

18 

1.8 

.96 

8 

2.2 

1.08 

11 

54 

3.6 

1.08 

50 

3.8 

1.28 

49 

3.7 

1.16 

49 

55 

3.4 

2.08 

48 

2.9 

1.48 

30 

2.7 

1.38 

21 

56 

2.3 

.96 

14 

2.7 

.9 

26 

2.5 

.9 

19 

57 

3.3 

1.22 

39 

4.9 

1.32 

80 

4.6 

1.68 

72 

58 

4 

1 

62 

4.4 

1.12 

71 

4.9 

1.12 

7» 

59 

3.9 

2.5 

61 

3.9 

1.72 

54 

3.3 

1.9 

38 

60 

5.2 

1.6 

84 

5.3 

1.16 

89 

5.5 

1.2 

93 

61 

3.6 

1.92 

52 

3.8 

1.04 

48 

3.3 

1.56 

37 

62 

5.6 

1.36 

90 

5.8 

1.08 

96 

6 

1 

95 

63 

4.3 

1.36 

74 

4.8 

1.2 

77 

4.8 

1.4 

78 

64 

3.8 

1.6 

68 

3.2 

1.44 

35 

3.3 

.76 

36 

65 

5.6 

1.96 

92 

5 

2.4 

84 

5.05 

1.75 

86 

66 

4.9 

1.52 

81 

5.5 

1.6 

92 

5 

1.4 

81 

67 

2.2 

1.08 

12 

1.8 

.8 

6 

1.7 

.84 

1 

68 

3.2 

1.44 

37 

4.3 

1.1 

66 

4.6 

.8 

6» 

69 

3.9 

1.34 

59 

3.7 

1.16 

45 

4.7 

1.16 

74 

70 

1.6 

.72 

2 

1.8 

.96 

7 

2.3 

1.36 

16 

71 

2.7 

1.58 

25 

1.9 

.72 

9 

2 

1.2 

7 

72 

3.4 

1.2 

44 

4.7 

1.56 

76 

3.6 

1.2 

45 

73 

4.3 

1.84 

75 

4.9 

1.14 

79 

4.4 

1.24 

65 

74 

1.8 

.96 

5 

2.3 

1.42 

16 

2.8 

1.4 

24 

75 

2.8 

1.04 

28 

3.5 

1.3 

42 

3.4 

1.2 

3» 

77 

4.1 

1.72 

66 

4.3 

1.1 

67 

4.7 

1.56 

7« 

78 

3.1 

1.72 

34 

3.2 

1.88 

36 

2.9 

1.46 

27 

79 

2.3 

1.16 

15 

2.1 

.94 

11 

1.9 

.9 

6 

81 

3.1 

1.54 

33 

4 

1.4 

56 

4.8 

1.08 

77 

82 

1.7 

.84 

3 

2.2 

1.24 

13 

2.1 

1.16 

9 

83 

3.2 

1.04 

36 

3.1 

1.68 

34 

3 

1.2 

30 

84 

2.7 

1.1 

23 

2.65 

.75 

25 

3.8 

1.4 

54 

85 

3 

1.6 

32 

4.1 

.74 

59 

3.8 

1.04 

53 

86 

3.2 

1.64 

38 

4 

1.6 

58 

3.7 

1.3 

50 

87 

4.5 

1.9 

76 

5.6 

2.08 

05 

5 

1.8 

82 

89 

2 

1 

11 

2.1 

.96 

12 

2.8 

1.76 

26 

91 

3.8 

1.56 

57 

4.3 

1.90 

69 

6.1 

1.32 

87 

92 

2     • 

.8 

9 

2.9 

1.12 

29 

1.9 

.72 

5 

93 

5.4 

1.44 

87 

5.1 

.36 

85 

4.6 

1.16 

70 

94 

3.7 

1.76 

55 

2.8 

1.6 

28 

2.9 

1.68 

28 

95 

4.2 

1.64 

70 

4.3 

2.1 

70 

4.5 

1.8 

68 

96 

5.2 

1.84 

85 

5.6 

1.28 

94 

6.7 

1.16 

100 

97 

2.3 

1.22 

16 

2.5 

.9 

21 

2.8 

1.2 

2S 

98 

2.2 

1.52 

13 

4.1 

2.1 

64 

3.6 

1.8 

48 

99 

3.4 

1.6 

46 

4.1 

1.5 

62 

4.4 

1.44 

66 

100 

3.3 

1.5 

41 

3.3 

1.1 

37 

3.5 

1.6 

42 

104 

4.5 

2.4 

77 

5 

2 

83 

5.3 

2.1 

90 

105 

1.6 

.48 

1 

1.8 

.4G 

4 

2.3 

.76 

14 

107 

2.8 

1.76 

29 

2.3 

1.42 

17 

2.5 

1.3 

20 

106 

7.3 

.7 

100 

7 

1.2 

100 

6.2 

1.2 

98 

109 

6.1 

1.3 

98 

5.5 

1.1 

91 

6 

1.2 

96 

111 

3.4 

1.2 

45 

3 

1.4 

33 

4 

1.4 

67 

113 

2.5 

1.4 

20 

2.4 

1.28 

18 

2.2 

1.24 

13 

1.46 

1.29 

1.33 

spectively  1.61  and  1.66.  Such  a  lowering  of  the  value  of  the  mean  variation, 
noticeable  particularly  in  the  second  arrangement,  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the 
waning  of  the  positive  affective  tone  of  the  series  as  a  whole,  a  waning 
which  in  the  method  used  resulted  in  a  shifting  of  the  fragments  towards 


40 


THE  IMACINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 


the  fourth  and  fifth  positions,  equivalent  in  its  effect  to  reducing  the  number 
of  possible  positions.  Such  a  reduction  in  the  value  of  the  M.  V.  might 
indeed  be  expected  in  the  group-method  of  arrangement  where  a  transition 
from  positive  pleasure  to  positive  unpleasantness  occurs  through  an  indif- 
ference point.  In  the  case  of  waning  value  evident  by  a  general  reduction 
along  a  scale  in  one  direction  only  such  a  lowering  of  the  M.  V.  might  not 
occur. 

In  this  connection,  it  is  interesting  to  compare  the  average  mean  varia- 
tion of  the  ten  fragments  that  in  the  final  order  of  pleasantness-unpleasant- 
ness were  found  to  be  most  pleasant  with  those  that  were  found  to  be  most 
unpleasant.  Table  XVI  shows  that  the  M.  V.  of  the  most  pleasant  group  is 
lower  than  that  of  the  most  unpleasant  group.  The  same  statement  is  true 
if  the  first  twenty  fragments  in  the  table  be  compared  with  the  last  twenty. 
Hollingsworth  (7:141),  in  commenting  on  the  lower  M.  V.  at  the  top  of  a 
series  as  compared  with  the  M.  V.  at  the  bottom,  cites  it  as  a  usual  occurrence 
in  subjective  judgments  and  interprets  it  as  evidence,  possibly,  for  the  fact 
that  "a  group  of  individuals  will  resemble  each  other  more  in  their  prefer- 
ences than  in  their  aversions."  This  seems,  indeed,  the  most  probable  inter- 

TABLE  rvi. 

AVERAGE  M.  V.'i.  10  SUBJECTS. 


Position 

Trial  1 

Trial  8 

Trial  3 

I... 

.48 

.M 

.84 

t  

.72 

.70 

.48 

s  

.84 

.84 

.80 

4  

.98 

.48 

.72 

5  

.98 

.80 

.72 

0  

.72 

.80 

.90 

7  

.60 

.98 

.20 

8.... 

.80 

.98 

.16 

9  

.80 

.72 

.92 

10  

1.00 

.90 

.04 

J>1  

1.88 

1.10 

.32 

92  

1.98 

1.00 

.00 

93  

1.10 

1.90 

.20 

94  

1.44 

1.28 

.08 

95  

i.n 

2.08 

.00 

98  

1.30 

1.08 

.20 

97    

.88 

1.06 

32 

98  

1.04 

1.85 

.20 

99  

1.42 

.80 

.32 

100  

.70 

1.20 

10 

pretation  in  the  present  instance,  although  every  reagent  but  one  gave,  also, 
a  lower  M.  V.  in  the  upper  than  in  the  lower  range,  an  observation  that 
might  incline  one  to  think  that  the  objective  differences  in  the  upper  range 
were  greater  than  those  in  the  lower. 

The  difference  between  the  M.  V.  of  the  first  and  last  ten  fragments 
became  smaller  for  the  second  and  third  trials,  falling  from  .56  in  the  first 
arrangement  to  .48  in  the  second  and  to  .50  in  the  third  arrangement.  Or, 
taking  the  first  and  last  twenty  fragments,  the  difference  fell  from  .55  in 
the  first  arrangement  to  .48  in  the  second,  but  rose  to  .61  in  the  third.  This 
fall  in  consecutive  trials  in  the  difference  between  the  M.  V.'s  at  the  top  and 
bottom  of  a  series,  Hollingsworth  finds  difficulty  in  explaining.  In  the  pres- 
ent test  the  progressive  fall  was  much  less  than  he  found  to  be  true  in  judg- 
ments on  comic  situations  and  seems  to  be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  very 
and  moderately  unpleasant  fragments  waned  in  value  to  a  greater  degree 
than  did  the  very  or  moderately  pleasant  fragments.  That  is  to  say,  un- 
pleasant fragments  with  repetition  became  neutral  while  pleasant  fragments 
did  not  lose  their  affective  tone  to  the  same  extent.  Table  XIII  shows,  in- 
deed, that,  proportionally,  a  greater  number  of  unpleasant  fragments  waned 
in  value  with  repetition  than  did  pleasant  fragments. 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  41 

On  account  of  discrepancies  in  the  method,  no  further  manipulation 
of  results,  except  along  the  line  of  individual  variation,  will  be  attempted. 
It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  order  of  merit  method  offers  great  oppor- 
tunity for  the  study  of  the  affective  and  the  aesthetic  judgment. 

The  variability  of  each  individual  from  his  own  average  for  the  three 
trials  was  calculated  and  the  reagents  arranged  in  order  of  individual  con- 
sistency as  follows:  (i)  D,  .43;  (2)  L,  47;  (3)  J>  495  (4)  M,  .59; 
(5)  N,  .64;  (6)  I,  .64;  (7)  A,  .71 ;  (8)  C,  .79;  (9)  E,  .86;  (10)  K,  .99. 
The  average  M.  V.  of  the  first  twenty  and  last  twenty  fragments  reveals, 
however,  certain  individual  characteristics.  D  and  N,  with  high  consistency 
for  the  pleasant  fragments,  show  great  variability  in  judgment  on  the  un- 
pleasant fragments.  I,  also,  is  much  more  consistent  in  judgment  on  the 
pleasant  fragments.  M's  variability  on  the  unpleasant  fragments  is  very 
high,  while  for  J,  L,  and  A  it  is  relatively  lower  than  in  the  case  of  the  other 
subjects.  J  alone  of  the  subjects  showed  an  absolutely  greater  consistency 
on  the  unpleasant  than  on  the  pleasant  judgments. 

The  average  variability  of  each  reagent  from  the  average  of  the  ten 
reagents  for  the  three  trials  resulted  in  the  following  order:  (i)  L,  1.07; 
(2)  J,  1.09;  (3)  M,  1.09;  (4)  N,  1.29;  (5)  C,  1.31;  (6)  E,  1.38;  (7) 
I,  1.42;  (8)  A,  1.49;  (9)  D,  i .60;  (10)  K,  1.80.  Or,  calculated  on  the 
basis  of  the  first  trial  alone,  in  which  the  "waning"  effects  are  not  present, 
(i)  J,  1.05;  (2)  M,  1.24;  (3)  L,  1.26;  (4)  N,  1.26;  (5)  A,  1.4;  (6) 
C,  1.44;  (7)  I,  1-54;  (8)  D,  1.58;  (9)  E,  1.63;  (10)  K,  2.06. 

Relative  to  the  variability  of  the  judgment  upon  different  poets,  a  cal- 
culation on  the  basis  of  the  first  arrangement  shows  that  the  judgments  on 
the  Blake  fragments  were  most  constant  for  the  group,  with  a  slightly 
higher  variability  on  the  Shelley  fragments.  The  greatest  variability  was 
found  for  the  Keats  fragments,  with  the  Swinburne  fragments  next  in  order. 
If  the  variability  of  the  individual  from  his  own  average  be  taken  and  the 
average  of  the  group  calculated,  the  Shelley  fragments  give  the  lowest  aver- 
age, with  the  Blake  fragments  closely  approximating  this  average.  Swin- 
burne gives  the  highest  variation,  with  Keats  a  few  points  lower.  Thus,  the  '- 
group  as  a  whole  are  seen  to  agree  best  on  the  Blake  and  Shelley  frag- 
ments and  to  disagree  most  on  the  Swinburne  and  Keats  fragments,  while 
the  individual  reagents  are  most  constant  in  their  judgments  on  Shelley 
and  Blake  and  least  constant  in  their  judgments  on  Keats  and  Swinburne. 

3.     THE  AESTHETIC  AND  THE  AFFECTIVE  JUDGMENT. 

Miss  Martin,  it  would  seem,  considered  that  the  arrangement  of  pictures 
on  the  basis  of  their  pleasantness-unpleasantness  determined  also  their 
aesthetic  value.  Consideration  whether  or  not  such  a  conclusion  is  justified 
raises  the  question  of  the  relation  of  the  agreeable  to  the  aesthetic  experience. 

A  theoretical  discussion  of  the  point  has  no  place  here.  But  as  a  prac- 
tical consideration,  it  seemed  worth  while  comparing  an  arrangement  of  the 
fragments  on  the  aesthetic  basis  with  one  made  on  the  basis  of  their  pleas- 
antness-unpleasantness. The  writer  had  hoped  to  get  this  second  arrange- 
ment, after  a  sufficiently  long  time  interval,  from  each  of  the  ten  reagents 
who  had  served  as  subjects  in  the  preceding  test.  It  happened,  however, 
that  judgments  could  be  obtained  from  only  six  of  them.  These  reagents, 
A,  C,  D,  N,  I,  and  L,  were  instructed  to  classify  the  fragments  into  eight 
groups  on  the  basis  of  their  aesthetic  value,  the  highest  aesthetic  value  being 
designated  by  i,  the  lowest  by  8.  A  statement  of  what  in  his  opinion  con- 
stituted the  aesthetic  value  was  also  asked  from  each  reagent.  The  order  of 
aesthetic  value  of  the  fragments  was  then  determined  by  calculating  the 
average  position  and  mean  variation  on  each  fragment.  In  order  to  compare 
this  grouping  with  one  made  on  the  pleasantness-unpleasantness  basis,  the 


42  THK  IMACINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 

affective  judgments  of  these  six  reagents  (first  trial)  were  averaged  and  the 
final  position  and  mean  variation  of  each  fragment  determined. 

The  instructions  for  the  aesthetic  arrangement  were  purposely  made 
general  in  order  to  determine  whether  or  not  the  aesthetic  distinction  is  a 
clear-cut  one  for  subjects  who  have  had  no  training  in  theoretical  aesthetics. 

A  shift  in  the  subject's  attitude  from  that  evklent  in  making  the  affect- 
ive judgment  was  clearly  manifest.  In  general,  the  aesthetic  judgment  was 
given  much  more  slowly  than  the  affective,  partly  because  the  reagents  felt 
at  a  loss  in  formulating  a  basis  for  this  judgment.  Usually,  a  critical  atti- 
tude was  adopted,  an  objection  which  Bullough  (4)  has  with  reason  urged 
against  the  use  in  experimental  aesthetics  of  methods  involving  comparison. 
The  word  aesthetic  was  often  interpreted  as  equivalent  to  artistic.  The 
artistic  fragments,  in  turn,  were  held  to  be  those  that  exhibit  literary  skill. 
For  instance,  in  giving  the  affective  judgment,  several  reagents  had  com- 
mented on  fragment  108  to  the  effect  that  although  the  sensuous  reaction  10 
it  was  strikingly  disagreeable,  the  appropriateness  of  its  phrasing  was  extra- 
ordinary. This  introduction  of  the  critical  attitude,  with,  however,  as  will 
appear,  little  objective  basis  for  estimation,  might  have  been  avoided  by 
asking  for  an  arrangement  of  the  fragments  on  a  basis  of  their  beauty,  an 
arrangement  which  should  indeed  be  tried. 

The  presence  of  the  critical  attitude  is  shown  by  the  smaller  number 
of  fragments  judged  to  be  of  the  highest  aesthetic  value  in  comparison  with 
the  number  judged  to  be  very  pleasant.  There  are  only  117  fragments  in  the 
combined  table  for  the  six  subjects  judged  to  be  of  highest  aesthetic  worth ; 
there  are  155  fragments  grouped  under  the  head  of  very  pleasant.  Every 
subject,  except  C,  gave  an  excess  of  very  pleasant  over  very  aesthetic  frag- 
ments. The  number  of  moderately  pleasant  and  slightly  pleasant  fragments 
corresponded  closely  with  those  placed  in  the  second  and  third  aesthetic 
groups.  The  aesthetic  fragments  in  the  eighth  group  exceeded  in  number 
those  in  the  very  unpleasant  group,  there  being  54  of  the  lowest  aesthetic 
value  and  only  28  very  unpleasant  fragments.  This  observation  points  in 
the  same  direction  as  the  excess  of  very  pleasant  judgments,  to  the  presence, 
namely,  of  a  critical  attitude  in  making  the  aesthetic  arrangement. 

Comparing  the  results  for  the  two  arrangements  as  shown  by  a  tabula- 
tion of  the  average  position,  the  final  position,  and  the  mean  variation  for 
affective  series  is  from  1.33  (M.  V.,  .44)  to  7.17  (M.  V.,  .83).  The  average 

MV 

mean  variation  was  1.32     The—   -was  1.65.     The  range  of  positions  in 

P 

the  aesthetic  series  was  from  1.67  (M.  V.,  .67)  to  6.5  (M.  V.,  2),  with  an 

MV 

average  M.  V.  of  1.57  or was  .196.     A  comparison  of  these  figures 

P 

shows  that  the  affective  judgment  was  less  subjective  than  the  aesthetic  in 
the  sense  that  the  arrangement  on  the  affective  basis  afforded  a  much  more 
definite  point  of  departure,  one  that  was  common  to  the  subjects. 

In  both  cases  the  M.  V.  for  the  superior  group  is  lower  than  that  for 
the  inferior  group,  that  is,  the  subjects  agree  better  on  the  fragments  that 
are  pleasant  and  aesthetic  than  on  those  that  are  unpleasant  and  not  aes- 
thetic. This  difference  between  the  M.  V.'s  at  the  top  and  at  the  bottom  of 
the  series  is,  however,  greater  in  the  case  of  the  affective  than  in  the  case 
of  the  aesthetic  series.  The  average  M.  V.  of  the  first  twenty  of  the  affective 
series  is  .66;  of  the  last  twenty  1.57:  the  difference  is  .91.  The  average  M. 
V.  of  the  first  twenty  fragments  in  the  aesthetic  series  is  1.07;  the  M.  V.  of 
each  fragment  of  the  two  series,  we  find  that  the  range  of  positions  in  the 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  43 

the  last  twenty  is  1.79;  the  difference  is  .72.  Comparatively,  the  M.  V.  of 
the  superior  aesthetic  fragments  is  greater  than  that  of  the  inferior  aesthetic 
fragments. 

A  detailed  comparison  of  the  fragments  which  occupy  the  first  and  last 
twenty  position  on  each  scale  is  of  interest.  The  following  fragments  main- 
tain their  position  among  the  first  twenty  of  each  group:  26,  38,  82,  2,  n, 
53,  89,  105,  67,  92,  71.  Fragments  that  are  high  on  the  aesthetic  scale  but 
low  on  the  affective  are  98,  which  is  first  on  the  aesthetic  rating  but  only 
twenty-first  on  the  affective ;  95,  which  falls  from  fourth  position  in  aesthetic 
to  seventy-sixth  in  the  affective  series ;  29,  which  is  eighth  in  the  aesthetic 
scale,  sixty-seventh  in  the  affective;  34,  which  is  eleventh  on  the  aesthetic, 
fifty-second  on  the  affective  rating;  36,  which  falls  from  twelve  in  the 
aesthetic  to  ninety-six  on  the  affective  scale.  6,  49,  and  33  also  show  a  fall 
in  the  change  from  the  aesthetic  to  the  affective  position,  but  a  fall  less 
pronounced  than  in  the  preceding  cases.  A  study  of  these  fragments  that 
are  not  as  pleasant  to  the  group  as  a  whole  as  they  are  aesthetic  shows  that 
98,  29,  34,  36,  and,  perhaps,  95  would  be  classed  as  mood-fragments.  They 
are  fragments  whose  sentiment  is  tinged  with  melancholy. 

The  fragments  that  ranked  much  lower  on  the  aesthetic  than  on  the 
affective  scale  are  8,  which  falls  from  first  place  affectively  to  forty-ninth 
aesthetically;  113,  which  is  lowered  from  twelfth  place  on  the  affective 
scale  to  forty-seventh  on  the  aesthetic ;  70,  which  is  reduced  from  thirteenth 
place  to  fifty-sixth ;  52,  which  falls  from  twenty-sixth  position  to  the  forty- 
first  ;  19,  which  is  reduced  from  the  seventeenth  position  to  the"  fifty-second ; 
and  3,  which  falls  from  the  ninth  to  the  thirty-fifth  position.  Other  frag- 
ments that  ranked  higher  on  the  affective  than  on  the  aesthetic  scale  are  74, 
56,  and  1 6.  A  study  of  these  fragments  shows  that  they  possess  a  rich 
sensuous  content  which  is  pleasant  rather  than  beautiful. 

The  fragments  which  are  held  to  be  both  unpleasant  and  of  little  aes- 
thetic worth  are  43,  13,  51,  62,  4,  63,  109,  and  96.  These  fragments  have  a 
painful  sensuous  content  largely  due  to  their  organic  toning,  which  is  at  once 
unpleasant  and  not  aesthetic.  The  fragments  which  are  held  to  be  non- 
aesthetic  but  not  strongly  unpleasant  are  40,  which  occupies  the  last  position 
in  the  aesthetic  rating  but  only  the  sixty-seventh  in  the  affective ;  72,  which 
is  the  ninety-ninth  fragment  for  aesthetic  value  but  the  fifty-ninth  for  af- 
fective; 61,  which  shifts  from  ninety-seventh,  aesthetic,  to  thirty-ninth, 
affective ;  84,  which  is  ninety-first  on  the  aesthetic  scale  and  forty-third  on 
the  affective;  in,  which  is  raised  from  a  position  of  ninety  on  the  aes- 
thetic rating  to  sixty-five  on  the  affective ;  9,  which  is  raised  from  the 
eighty-eighth  to  the  sixty-second;  41,  raised  from  eighty-sixth  to  forty- 
ninth  position;  and  77,  raised  to  sixty-third  from  eighty-third  position. 
A  study  of  these  fragments  shows  that  verbal  or  logical  incongruity  is  able 
to  lower  the  aesthetic  worth  more  than  it  affects  the  quality  of  jDleasantness. 

Very  unpleasant  fragments  which  have  a  higher  aesthetic  valuation 
are  108,  which  although  the  most  unpleasant  fragment  is  only  sixty-second 
in  the  aesthetic  ranking,  a  fragment  which  the  reagents  frequently  cited  as 
marking  the  difference  between  an  aesthetic  and  a  pleasant  fragment;  47, 
the  ninety-ninth  on  the  affective,  the  sixty-seventh  on  the  aesthetic  scale; 
44,  raised  from  ninety-sixth  on  the  affective  to  sixty-first  on  the  aesthetic 
scale;  36,  raised  from  ninety- fourth,  affective,  to  twelve,  aesthetic;  28, 
raised  from  eighty-eight,  affective,  to  thirty,  aesthetic;  65,  raised  from 
ninetieth,  affective,  to  forty-ninth,  aesthetic.  The  increased  aesthetic  value 
for  such  unpleasant  fragments  as  25,  48,  25,  59,  and  87  is  also  evident. 
These  fragments,  which  are  usually  sensuously  unpleasant,  are  given  a 
higher  aesthetic  rating  because  of  the  aptness  of  expression,  the  kinship 
between  the  sentiment  and  the  phrasing. 


44  THK  I  M. \r.ix.\i.  RK.UTION  T«>  I'«»KTRY. 

The  results  suggest  a  method  of  instituting  a  comparison  between 
judgments  on  various  qualities  of  poetry.  It  is  quite  evident  that  although 
the  very  pleasant  fragment  may  be  aesthetic,  or  the  aesthetic  pleasant,  there 
is  no  necessary  relation  of  the  sort. 

One  of  the  greatest  individual  differences  in  the  reaction  was  appar- 
ently the  degree  to  which  the  aesthetic  reaction  determined  the  judgment  of 
pleasantness.  This  determination  is  very  evident  in  the  judgments  of  D, 
who  reported  that  a  fragment  possessing  the  aesthetic  quality  was  always 
pleasant,  although  there  might  be  a  few  very  pleasant  fragments  which 
were  not  aesthetic.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  fragments  in  which  D's  affective 
judgment  varied  most  widely  from  the  group-average  are  those  fragments 
that  the  group  finds  unpleasant  but  which  on  the  aesthetic  basis  are  given 
higher  value,  namely  such  mood  fragments  as  34,  29,  28,  and  98.  One 
would  expect  to  find  D's  variation  from  the  group  average 'less  for  the 
aesthetic  judgment  than  it  is  for  the  affective,  and  such  is  found  to  be  the 
case.  Her  average  M.  V.  from  the  average  affective  judgment  of  the  group 
i-  1.36:  her  average  M.  V.  from  the  average  aesthetic  judgment  of  the 
group  is  1.32. 

As  regards  the  basis  for  the  aesthetic  judgment,  D  reported  that  she 
appeared  to  use  the  word  "aesthetic"  in  a  double  sense,  "(i)  I  under- 
stand by  an  aesthetic  fragment  one  that  arouses  the  mystic  feeling  of 
beauty,  such  as  fragments  28,  37,  and,  to  a  high  degree,  fragments  98,  34, 
and  94.  These  fragments  are  the  ones  that  I  mark  i  on  the  aesthetic  scale. 

"It  is  very  difficult  to  define  what  I  mean  by  the  'mystic  feeling  of 
beauty'.  There  is  a  definite  suspension  of  the  critical  judgment,  together 
with  a  feeling  of  complete  self -absorption  accompanied  either  by  the  trance 
feeling  (diverged  eyes)  or  that  of  suspended  breathing.  There  is  also  an 
illusion  of  a  long  lapse  of  time,  during  the  reading.  Apparently,  the  mood- 
tone  of  the  fragment  and  the  music  of  the  words  are  more  influential  in 
producing  this  effect  of  beauty  than  is  the  sensuous  content  or  imagery 
aroused.  In  connection  with  several  fragments,  however,  the  visual  images 
aroused  are  of  great  beauty  and  increase  the  effect  of  the  words  themselves. 
Such  images  are  those  aroused  by  94,  34,  and  95. 

"(2)  I  also  apply  the  word  aesthetic  to  those  fragments  that,  intel- 
lectually, I  judge  to  be  artistic,  to  exhibit  literary  taste.  These  fragments 
are  graded  down  from  the  first  column,  that  of  highest  aesthetic  value.  I 
believe  that  these  fragments  are  much  more  apt  to  'wane'  for  me  in  their 
affective  aspect  than  are  the  fragments  of  highest  aesthetic  value." 

N,  with  a  different  attitude  than  D,  who  found  the  aesthetic  pleasant, 
reported  that  she  found  difficulty  in  finding  the  disagreeable  aesthetic.  Her 
standard  for  the  fragments  of  highest  aesthetic  value  is  what  she  calls  the 
possession  of  a  spiritual  or  ethereal  quality.  One  word  was  found  suffi- 
cient to  give  such  a  tone,  such  words  as  winged,  soul,  spirit,  being  partic- 
ularly effective.  X's  mean  variation  from  the  affective  average  is  much 
less  than  that  from  the  aesthetic  average,  being  only  1.15  in  the  latter  case, 
but  i .81  in  the  former,  an  observation  which  points  the  subjective  standard 
in  her  aesthetic  grouping. 

A  and  L  were  able  to  cite  no  new  basis  for  the  aesthetic  judgment 
other  than  that  utilized  in  the  affective  grouping.  For  both  the  sensuous 
content  is  of  chief  importance  in  both  series.  A  adds  that,  for  some  reason, 
the  "windy"  fragments  are  felt  to  be  particularly  aesthetic.  For  both  of 
these  subjects  the  mean  variation  from  the  average  judgment  is  higher  in 
the  case  of  the  aesthetic  than  in  the  case  of  the  affective  series.  For  A,  the 
M.  V.  in  the  affective  series  is  1.30,  for  the  aesthetic,  1.67;  for  L.  the  M.  V.. 
affective  series,  is  1.23,  for  the  aesthetic,  1.36. 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  45 

The  critical  attitude  would  appear  to  be  very  pronounced  for  I,  in 
passing  the  aesthetic  judgment.  I  found  no  fragment  very  unpleasant,  but 
found  twenty-five  of  them  of  the  lowest  aesthetic  worth.  C,  on  the  con- 
trary, placed  only  one  fragment  in  the  lowest  aesthetic  group,  although 
he  had  found  eight  fragments  very  unpleasant.  Both  these  subjects,  how- 
ever, gave  a  lower  M.  V.  for  the  affective  series  than  for  the  aesthetic. 
For  I,  the  M.  V.,  affective  series,  is  1.43;  the  M.  V.,  aesthetic  series,  is 
1.86;  for  C,  the  M.  V.,  affective  series,  is  1.31;  the  M.  V.,  aesthetic 
series,  1.44. 

I  volunteered  no  statement  of  the  basis  for  the  aesthetic  judgment. 
C  reported  that  the  basis  for  the  judgment  was  two-fold:  "(O  The 
'absorptive'  quality  of  the  fragment;  and  (2)  the  skill  shown  in  expression. 
There  were  fragments  the  reaction  to  which  was  unpleasant  yet  whose 
phrasing  was  felt  to  be  very  appropriate,  an  exact  expression  of  the  mean* 
ing  intended."  In  case  of  such  fragments  as  the  latter,  C  had  difficulty 
in  deciding  upon  the  proper  placement.  They  included  fragments  13,  25, 

45.  34- 

The  six  subjects  of  th'e  present  group,  if  ranked  in  order  of  least  varia- 
tion from  the  group-average  for  the  affective  series,  would  be  placed  as 
follows:  (i)  N;  (2)  L;  (3)  A;  (4)  C;  (5)  I;  (6)  D.  A  ranking 
on  the  basis  of  the  M.  V.  for  the  aesthetic  series  gives  (i)  D;  (2)  L; 
(3)  C;  (4)  A;  (5)  N;  (6)  I.  D  is  the  only  reagent  who  gives  a  lower 
M.  V.  from  the  aesthetic  than  from  the  affective  group-average,  a  lowering 
of  the  M.  V.  in  the  former  case,  which,  although  it  appears  slight,  is  very 
significant  when  taken  in  connection  with  the  high  average  M.  V.  for  the 
group  as  a  whole.  Moreover,  D's  M.  V.  in  the  aesthetic  arrangement  is 
much  lower  than  the  affective  M.  V.  for  every  poet  but  Shelley,  in  which 
case  the  M.  V.  is  much  lower  for  the  affective  series,  and  thus  reduces  the 
average.  This  noticeably  lower  M.  V.  for  Shelley  in  the  affective  ar- 
rangement as  against  the  aesthetic  is  also  true  for  the  four  other  subjects. 
Poe  and  Swinburne  show,  on  the  other  hand,  a  lower  aesthetic  than 
affective  M.  V.  for  three  of  the  six  subjects.  Swinburne  gives  the  lowest 
M.  V.  for  the  aesthetic  arrangement  of  the  five  poets. 

The  comparison  of  the  results  from  the. two  series  of  judgments  sug- 
gests many  interesting  details.  Irregularities  in  the  experiment  prohibit 
a  further  use  of  the  figures.  Certain  indications  are,  however,  significant 
and  point  the  course  of  further  investigation.  It  is,  for  instance,  probable 
that  the  fragments  of  high  aesthetic  value  are  much  less  apt  to  wane  af- 
fectively than  are  the  pleasant  but  not  aesthetic  fragments.  The  tabula- 
tion of  the  averages  for  each  of  the  three  affective  arrangements  (ten 
reagents)  shows  that  eight  of  the  eleven  fragments  that  were  both  very 
pleasant  and  very  aesthetic  either  remained  constant  in  affective  value,  as 
shown  by  a  comparison  of  the  average  for  the  first  and  third  trial,  or  else 
increased  in  value;  three  only  (82,  105,  and  89)  fell  slightly  in  affective  . 
value.  Of  the  nine  fragments  that  were  aesthetic  but  not  highly  pleasant,  I 
six  increased  in  affective  value,  three  decreased  slightly.  On  the  other  hand, 
of  the  nine  pleasant  but  not  highly  aesthetic  fragments,  eight  waned  in  af- 
fective value.  Such  indications  are  of  interest  since  they  suggest  as  char- 
acteristic of  the  aesthetic  reaction  the  maintenance  of  the  affective  tone  at 
a  high  level  or  the  increase  in  this  pleasantness  with  repetition,  while  the 
merely  pleasant  reaction  wanes  with  repetition. 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  Strong  in  testing  the 
effect  of  repetition  upon  the  "pulling  power"  of  advertisements,  found  some 
evidence  of  the  waxing-value  of  "artistic"  advertisements.  (15:65). 


46  THI-:  I M Af.ixM.  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 


IV.    SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS. 

1.  Individual   differences  in   the  reaction  to  poetic   fragments   were 
clearly  brought  out  by  the  test  just  reported.     The  kind  of  sense-reaction 
was  less  significant  than  the  general  characteristics  of  such  reaction,  as,  for 
instance,  its  spontaneity,  its  imaginative  or  memorial  qualities.    The  vague 
but  charming  images  of  the  "diffluente"  were  in  contrast  to  the  precise 
images  of  the  "plastique"  type.    In  the  case  of  the  first,  emotional  coloration 
and  kinaesthetic  reactions  were  pronounced';    in  the  case  of  the  second, 
richness  of  imagery  and  definiteness  of  spatial  relationships  were  empha- 
sized.    Felt  kinaesthetic   reactions  appeared  more   intimate   than  optical- 
kinaesthetic  reactions,  just  as  a  kinaesthetic  self-projection   appeared   to 
hold  greater  aesthetic  possibilities  than  a  mere  visual  self -projection. 

Absorption  in  the  inner  speech  was  shown  to  exist  to  various  degrees, — 
the  kind  of  absorption  being  determined  by  the  predominance  of  visual. 
motor,  or  auditory  elements.  A  motor  predominance  caused  preoccupation 
with  the  rhythmic  structure  of  the  verse;  an  auditory  favored  absorption 
in  the  onomatopoetic  effects,  if  the  interest  was  sensorial,  or  issued  in  sur- 
render to  the  dramatic  possibilities  of  impersonation,  if  the  imaginative  in- 
terest was  dominant. 

2.  The  results  of  the  experiment  furnish  some  evidence  of  the  possi- 
bility of  utilizing  the  method  of  style  in  determination  of  an  author's  type- 
reactions. 

3.  Vividness  of  imagery,  particularly  of  visual   and   olfactory   im- 
agery, was  shown  to  contribute  to  the  affective  reaction  to  poetry.     In  gen- 
eral, the  arousal  of  a  predispositional  form  of  imagery  increased  the  pleas- 
antness of  the  reaction.    Apart  from  the  imagery,  individual  differences  in 
emotional  preferences  were  significant  in  determining  the  affective  reaction. 
The  demands  of  logic  and  an  heightened  interest  in  the  novel,  on  the  one 
hand,  or  in   the   familiar,  on   the  other,  were  also  determinants   of   the 
judgment. 

So  many  divergencies  between  the  affective  and  the  aesthetic  judgment 
were  shown  to  exist,  that  it  is  impossible,  without  further  experiments,  to 
apply  to  the  aesthetic  reaction  the  conclusions  reached  relative  to  the  affec- 
tive. In  the  case  of  the  former,  richness  of  imagery  appeared  to  decrease 
in  importance  while  mood-tone  grew  in  value.  Individual  differences,  how- 
ever, in  the  degree  to  which  the  aesthetic  was  pleasant,  were  very  evident. 
Apparently,  the  fragments  affectively  pleasant  but  not  aesthetic  waned  in 
value  with  re-reading  more  than  did  fragments  that  were  both  aesthetic  and 
pleasant. 

In  general,  the  results  of  the  test  show  that  application  of  the  order  of 
merit  method  to  the  problems  of  aesthetics  offers  a  tempting  field  for  work. 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  47 


REFERENCES. 

1.  Angell,  J.  R.     Methods   for  the  Determination  of   Mental   Imagery. 

Psychol.  Rev.  Monog.  No.  53,  (1910). 

2.  Betts,  G.  H.     The  Distribution  and   Functions  of   Mental   Imagery. 

Columbia  University  Contributions  to  Education,  No.  26,  (1909). 

3.  Binet,  A.     L'Etude  Experimental  de  L/Intelligence,  (1903). 

4.  Bullough,  E.     The  "Perceptive  Problem"  in  the  Aesthetic  Apprecia- 

tion of  Single  Colours,  British  Jour,  of  Psychol,  Vol.  II,   (1906- 
1908). 

5.  Colvin,   S.   S.     Methods   of  Determining  Ideational  Types,   Psychol. 

Bulletin,  VI,  (1909). 

6.  Downey,  J.  E.    A  Case  of  Colored  Gustation,  American  Jour,  of  Psy- 

chol., XXII,  (1911). 

7.  Rollings  worth,   H.   L.     Experimental    Studies   in   Judgments    (Judg- 

ments of  the  Comic),  Psychol.  Rev.,  XVIII,  (1911). 

8.  Kakise,  H.    A  Preliminary  Experimental  Study  of  the  Conscious  Con- 

comitants of  Understanding,  American  Jour,  of  Psychol.,  XXII, 
(1911). 

9.  Lay,  W.    Mental  Imagery,  Psychol.  Rev.  Monog.,  No.  7,  (1898). 

10.  Martin,  L.  J.    Ueber  aesthetische  Synaesthesie,  Ztschft.  fur  Psychol., 

53,  (1909)- 

11.  Mueller-Freienfels,  R.     Individuelle  Verschiedenheiten  in  der  Kunst. 

Ztschft.  fiir  Psychol.,  50,  (1909). 

12.  Perky,  C.  W.    An  experimental  study  of  Imagination,  American  Jour. 

of  Psychol.,  XXI,  (1910). 

13.  Ribot,  Th.     Essai  sur  L'Imagination  Cr^atrice,  (1900). 

14.  Souriau,  P.    La  Suggestion  Dans  L'Art,  (1909). 

15.  Strong,  E.  K.     The  Relative  Merit  of  Advertisements,  Archives  of 

Psychology,  17,  (1911). 

16.  Town,  C.  H.    The  Kinaesthetic  Element  in  Endophasia  and  Auditory 

Hallucination,  American  Jour,  of  Psychol.,  XVII,  (1906). 


APPENDIX. 


FRAGMENTS. 

2.  The  sound  of  the  rain 

Which  leaps  down  to  the  flower, 
And  dances  again 

In  the  rhythm  of  the  shower — 
The  murmur  that  springs 

From  the  growing  of  grass 
Are  the  music  of  things.     (Poe). 

3.  When  the  green  woods  laugh  with  the  voice  of  joy, 
And  the  dimpling  stream  runs  laughing  by ; 
When  the  air  does  laugh  with  our  merry  wit. 
And  the  green  hill  laughs  with  the  noise  of  it ; 
When  the  meadows  laugh  with  lively  green, 

And  the  grasshopper  laughs  in  the  merry  scene.     (Blake). 

4.  I  heard  thy  sighs, 

And  all  thy  moans  flew  o'er  my  roof  but  I  have 
called  them  down.     (Blake). 

5.  Alas !  that  all  we  loved  of  him  should  be, 

But  for  our  grief,  as  if  it  had  not  been, 
And  grief  itself  be  mortal!     Woe  is  me!     (Shelley). 

6.  On  he  flared 

From  stately  nave  to  nave,  from  vault  to  vault, 

Through  bowers  of  fragrant  and  enwreath^d  light.     (Keats). 

7.  And  the  song  softened,  even  as  Heaven  by  night 
Softens,  from  sunnier  down  to  starrier  light, 
And  with  its  moonbright  breath 

Blessed  life  for  death's  sake,  and  for  life's  sake  death.     (Swinburne). 

8.  The  snow-drop,  and  then  the  violet, 

Arose  from  the  ground  with  the  warm  rain  wet, 

And  their  breath  was  mixed  with  fresh  odor,  sent 

From  the  turf,  like  the  voice  and  the  instrument.     (Shelley). 

9.  But  the  words  she  spake 

Came,  as  through  bubbling  honey,  for  Love's  sake.     (Keats). 

10.  Lost  in  pleasure  at  her  feet  he  sinks. 

Touching  with  dazzled  lips  her  starlight  hand.     (Keats). 

n.  And  the  mystic  wind  went  by 

Murmuring  in  melody.      (Poe). 

12  She 

Only  saw  the  beautiful  lips  and  fingers 
Full  of  songs  and  kisses  and  little  whispers, 
Full  of  music ;  only  beheld  among  them 

Soar,  as  a  bird  soars. 
Newly  fledged,  her  visible  song,  a  marvel, 
Made  of  perfect  sound,  exceeding  passion, 
Sweetly  shapen,  terrible,  full  of  thunders, 

Clothed  with  the  wind's  wings.     (Swinburne). 


50  Tin:  IM  A».  IN  A  i.  K i:  ACTION  TO  POETRY. 

13.  Iron  tears  and  groans  of  lead 

Thou  bind'st  round  my  aching  head.     (Blake). 

14.  Banners  yellow,  glorious,  golden, 

On  its  roof  did  float  and  flow.    (Poe). 

15.  Here  where  the  dames  of  Rome  their  gilded  hair 
Waved  to  the  wind,  now  wave  the  reed  and  thistle!    (Poe). 

16.  Her  voice  came  to  me  through  the  whispering  woods, 
And  from  the  fountains,  and  the  odors  deep 

Of  flowers,  which,  like  lips  murmuring  in  their  sleep 
Of  the  sweet  kisses  which  had  lulled  them  there, 
Breathed  but  of  her  to  the  enamoured  air.     (Shelley). 

17.  Tis  scarce  like  sound,  it  tingled  through  the  frame 
As  lightning  tingles.     (Shelley). 

18.  For  to  bear  all  naked  truths. 

And  to  envisage  circumstance,  all  calm. 
That  is  the  top  of  sovereignty.    (Keats). 

19.  The  quiet  maid 

Held  her  in  peace:    so  that  a  whispering  blade 

Of  grass,  a  wailful  gnat,  a  bee  bustling 

Down  in  the  blue-bells,  or  a  wren  light  rustling 

Among  seer  leaves  and  twigs,  might  all  be  heard.     (Keats). 

20.  And  all  the  drops  in  all  his  veins  were  wine, 
And  all  the  pulses  music.     (Swinburne.) 

22.  Memory,  hither  come, 

And  tune  your  merry  notes; 
And  while  upon  the  wind 

Your  music  floats, 
I'll  pore  upon  the  stream 
Where  signing  lovers  dream 
And  fish  for  fancies  as  they  pass 
Within  the  watery  glass.     (Blake). 

23.  Sweet  moans,  dovelike  sighs, 

Chase  not  slumber  from  thine  eyes!     (Blake). 

24.  All  Nature  speaks,  and  ev'n  ideal  things 

Flap  shadowy  sounds  from  visionary  wings.     (Poe). 

25.  O,  the  heavy  light ! 

How  drowsily  it  weighed  them  into  night!     (Poe). 

26.  This  is  the  mystic  shell; 

See  the  pale  azure  fading  into  silver, 

Lining  it  with  a  soft  yet  glowing  light; 

Looks  it  not  like  lulled  music  sleeping  there?    (Shelley). 

27.  She  met  me,  robed  in  such  exceeding  glory, 
That  I  beheld  her  not.     (Shelley). 

28.  Strange  ministrant  of  undescribed  sounds, 
That  come  aswooning  over  hollow  grounds, 
And  wither  drearily  on  barren  moors.     (Keats). 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  51 

29.  Upon  the  sodden  ground 

His  old  right  hand  lay  nerveless,  listless,  dead, 
Unsceptred;   and  his  realmless  eyes  were  closed; 
While  his  bowed  head  seem'd  list'ning  to  the  Earth, 
His  ancient  mother,  for  some  comfort  yet.     (Keats). 

30.  O  light  of  song,  whose  fire  is  perfect  light!     (Swinburne). 

31.  I  have  put  my  days  and  dreams  out  of  mind, 

Days  that  are  over,  dreams  that  are  done. 
Though  we  seek  life  through,  we  shall  surely  find 

There  is  none  of  them  clear  to  us  now,  not  one.     (Swinburne). 

32.  But  clear  are  these  things ;    the  grass  and  the  sand, 
Where,  sure  as  the  eyes  reach,  ever  at  hand, 

With  lips  wide  open  and  face  burnt  blind, 

The  strong  sea-daisies  feast  on  the  sun.     (Swinburne). 

33.  He  listened  to  the  wind  that  now  did  stir 
About  the  crisped  oaks  full  drearily, 

Yet  with  as  sweet  a  softness  as  might  be 
Remembered  from  its  velvet  summer  song.     (Keats). 

34.  Resignedly  beneath  the  sky 
The  melancholy  waters  lie. 

So  blend  the  turrets  and  shadows  there 
That  all   seem  pendulous  in  air, 
While  from  a  proud  tower  in  the  town 
Death  looks  gigantically  down.     (Poe). 

36.  And  swordlike  was  the  sound  of  the  iron  wind.     (Swinburne). 

37.  Ah   Sunflower,  weary  of  time, 

Who  countest  the  steps  of  the  sun; 
Seeking  after  that  sweet  golden  clime 

Where  the  traveler's  journey  is  done ; 
Where  the  Youth  pined  away  with  desire, 

And  the  pale  virgin  shrouded  in  snow, 
Arise  from  their  graves  and  aspire 

Where  my  Sunflower  wishes  to  go.     (Blake). 

38.  Thine  old  wild  songs  which  in  the  air 
Like  homeless  odours  floated.      (Shelley). 

39.  Nought  loves  another  as  itself, 

Nor  venerates  another  so, 
Nor  is  it  possible  to  thought 

A  greater  than  itself  to  know.     (Blake). 

40.  And  music  from  her  respiration  spread 
Like  light.     (Shelley). 

41.  A  multitude  that  rear'd  their  voices  to  the  clouds.     (Keats). 

42.  The  pulse  of  war  and  passion  of  wonder, 

The  heavens  that  murmur,  the  sounds  that  shine, 
The  stars  that  sing  and  the  leaves  that  thunder, 

The  music  burning  at  heart  like  wine, 
An  arm^d  archangel  whose  hands  raise  up 
All  senses  mixed  in  the  spirit's  cup 
Till  flesh  and  spirit  are  molten  in  sunder 

These  things  are  over,  and  no  more  mine.     (Swinburne). 


52  Tin-   IMAI-.INM.  KKUTION  T«»  PIIKTKY. 

4^.    And  the  hapless  soldier's  sigh 

Runs  in  blood  down  palace-walls.     (Blake). 

44.  And  the  red  winds  are  withering  in  the  sky.     (Poe). 

45.  The  curtain  a  funeral  pall, 

Comes  down  with  the  rush  of  a  storm.     (Poe). 

46.  And  the  hyacinth  purple,  and  white,  and  blue, 
Which  flung  from  its  bells  a  sweet  peal  anew 

(  )f  music  so  delicate,  soft,  and  intense, 

It  was  felt  like  an  odour  within  the  sense.     (Shelley). 

47.  The  leprous  corpse  touched  by  this  spirit  tender 
Exhale-  itself  in  flowers  of  gentle  breath; 
Like  incarnations  of  the  stars,  when  splendour 

U  changed  to  fragrance,  they  illumine  death.     (Shelley). 

48.  In  each  human  heart  terror  survives 
The  ruin  it  has  gorged :   the  loftiest  fear 

All  that  they  would  disdain  to  think  were  true; 

HyjKxrrisy  and  custom  make  their  minds 

The  fanes  of  many  a  worship  now  outworn.     (Shelley). 

49.  A  light  of  laughing  flowers  along  the  grass  is  spread.     (Shelley). 

50.  And  soon  his  eyes  had  drunk  her  beauty  up, 
Leaving  no  drop  in  that  bewildering  cup, 
And  still  the  cup  was  full.     (Keats). 

51.  Let  thy  white  shoulders  silvery  and  bare 
Shew  cold  through  watery  pinions.     (Keats). 

52.  Voices  of  soft  proclaim,  and  silver  stir 
Of  strings  in  hollow  shells.     (Keats). 

53.  Hesperia— 

Out  of  the  golden  remote  wild  west  where  the  sea  without  shore  is. 

Full  of  the  sunset,  and  sad,  if  at  all.  with  the  fullness  of  joy. 

A-  a  wind  sets  in  with  the  autumn  that  blows  from  the  regions  of 

stories, 
Blows  with  a  perfume  of  songs  and  of  memories  beloved  from 

a  boy, — 

Blows  from  the  capes  of  the  past  over  sea  to  the  bays  of  the  present, 
Filled  as  with  shadow  of  sound  with  the  pulse  of  invisible  feet, — 

(Swinburne). 

54.  Light  heard  as  music,  music  seen  as  light.     (Swinburne). 

55.  There  shot  a  golden  splendour  far  and  wide, 
Spangling  those  million  poutings  of  the  brine 
With  quivering  ore.     (Keats). 

56.  And  slumber  in  the  arms  of  melody.     (Keats). 

57.  And  towards  the  loadstar  of  my  one  desire, 
I  flitted,  like  a  dizzy  moth,  whose  flight 

\-  as  a  dead  leaf's  in  the  owlet  light, 
When  it  would  seek  in  Hesper's  setting  sphere 
A  radiant  death,  a  fiery  sepulchre, 
\>  if  it  were  a  lamp  of  earthly  flame.     (Shelley). 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY. 

58.  And  odours  warm  and  fresh  fell  from  her  hair 
Dissolving  the  dull  cold  in  the  frore  air.     (Shelley). 

59.  And  the  silken,  sad,  uncertain  rustling  of  each  purple  curtain 
Thrilled  me — filled  me  with  fantastic  terrors  never  felt  before ; 
So  that  now  to  still  the  beating  of  my  heart,  I  stood  repeating 
"  'Tis  some  visitor  entreating  entrance  at  my  chamber  door — 
Some  late  visitor  entreating  entrance  at  my  chamber  door ; — 

This  it  is  and  nothing  more."     (Poe). 

60.  And  the  rush — 

The  torrent  of  the  chilly  air 
Gurgled  within  my  ear  the  crush 
Of  empires.     (Poe). 

Oh,  from  out  the  sounding  cells 
What  a  gush  of  euphony  voluminously  wells.     (Poe). 

62.  For  light  doth  seize  my  brain 
With  frantic  pain.     (Blake). 

63.  For  a  tear  is  an  intellectual  thing, 

And  a  sigh  is  the  sword  of  an  angel  king; 

And  the  bitter  groan  of  a  martyr's  woe 

Is  an  arrow  from  the  Almighty's  bow.     (Blake). 

64.  And  from  his  grave  glad  lips  the  boy  would  gather 
Fine  honey  of  song-notes  goldener  than  gold, 
More  sweet  than  bees  make  of  the  breathing  heather, 
That  he,  as  glad  and  bold, 

Might  drink  as  they,  and  keep  his  spirit  from  cold.     (Swinburne), 

65.  My  heart  aches,  and  a  drowsy  numbness  pains 
My  sense,  as  though  of  hemlock  I  had  drunk, 
Or  emptied  some  dull  opiate  to  the  drains 

One  minute  past,  and  Lethe-wards  had  sunk.     (Keats). 

66.  But  to  her  heart,  her  heart  was  voluble. 
Paining  with  eloquence  her  balmy  side.     (Keats). 

67.  The  point  of  one  white  star  is  quivering  still 
Deep  in  the  orange  light  of  widening  morn 
Beyond  the  purple  mountains ;    through  a  chasm 
Of  wind-divided  mist  the  darker  lake 

Reflects  it.     (Shelley). 

68.  Who  sees  the  darkness  coming  as  a  cloud — 

Is  not  its  form — its  voice — most  palpable  and  loud?     (Poe). 

69.  For  Heaven  no  grace  imparts 

To  those  who  hear  not  for  their  beating  hearts.     (Poe). 

70.  Fountains  were  gushing  music  as  they  fell 

In  many  a  star-lit  grove,  or  moon-light  dell.     (Poe). 

71.  Wheeled  clouds,  which  as  they  roll 

Over  the  grass,  and  flowers,  and  waves,  wake  sounds, 
Sweet  as  a  singing  rain  of  silver  dew.     (Shelley). 

72.  O,  turn  thee  to  the  very  tale, 

And  taste  the  music  of  that  vision  pale.     (Keats). 


54  TIIK  IMAC.INAL  REACTION  TO  I'OKTRY. 

7V    A  hunting  music,  sole  perhaps  and  lone 
Supportn-xs  of  the  faery-roof,  made  moan 
Throughout.     (Keats). 

74.  To  Autumn. 

Who  hath  not  seen  thee  oft  amid  thy  store? 

Sometimes  whoever  seeks  abroad  may  find 
Thee  sitting  careless  on  a  granary  floor, 

Thy  hair  soft-lifted  by  the  winnowing  wind; 
Or  on  a  half-reaped  furrow  sound  asleep, 

Drows'd  with  the  fume  of  poppies,  while  thy  hook 

Spares  the  next  swath  and  all  its  twined  flowers: 
And  sometimes  like  a  gleaner  thou  dost  keep 

Steady  thy  laden  head  across  a  brook ; 

Or  by  a  cider-press,  with  patient  look, 
Thou  watchest  the  last  oozingc  hours  by  hours.    (Keats). 

75.  Song  visible,  whence  all  men's  eyes  were  lit 

With  love  and  loving  wonder ;  song  that  glowed 
Through  cloud  and  change  on  souls  that  knew  not  it 

And  hearts  that  wist  not  whence  their  comfort  flowed.  (Swinburne). 

77.  Let  no  bell  toll !  lest  her  sweet  soul,  amid  its  hallowed  mirth, 
Should  catch  the  note,  as  it  doth  float  up  from  the  damned  Earth. 

(Poe). 

78.  Warm  fragrance  seems  to  fall  from  her  light  dress 
And  her  loose  hair;    and  where  some  heavy  tress 
The  air  of  her  own  speed  has  disentwined, 

The  sweetness  seems  to  satiate  the  faint  wind. 
And  in  the  soul  a  wild  odour  is  felt, 
Beyond  the  sense,  like  fiery  dews  that  melt 
Into  the  bosom  of  a  frozen  bud.     (Shelley). 

79.  And  through  yon  peaks  of  cloudlike  snow 
The  roseate  sunlight  quivers;    Hear  I  not 
The  Aeolian  music  of  her  sea-green  plumes 
Winnowing  the  crimson  dawn? 

81.  Hear  the  voice  of  the  Bard, 

Who  present,  past,  and  future  sees ; 

Whose  ears  have  heard 

The  Holy  Word 

That  walked  among  the  ancient  trees ; 

Calling  the  lapsed  soul 

And  weeping  in  the  evening  dew.     (Blake). 

82.  To  the  Evening  Star. 
Let  thy  west  wind  sleep  on 

The  lake;   speak  silence  with  thy  glimmering  eyes, 
And  wash  the  dusk  with  silver.     (Blake). 

83.  And  all  my  days  are  trances, 

And  all  my  nightly  dreams 
Are  where  thy  dark  eye  glances, 

And  where  thy  footstep  gleams — 
In  what  ethereal  dances. 

By  what  eternal  streams  I    (Poe). 

84.  Fair  flowers,  and  fairy !  to  whose  care  is  given 

To  bear  the  Goddess'  song,  in  odours  up  to  Heaven.    ( Poe). 


THE  IMAGINAL  REACTION  TO  POETRY.  55 

85.  Art  thou  not  void  of  guile, 

A  lovely  soul  formed  to  be  blest  and  bless? 
A  well  of  sealed  and  secret  happiness, 
Whose  waters  like  blithe  light  and  music  are, . 
Vanquishing  dissonance  and  gloom?     (Shelley). 

86.  Clear,  silver,  icy,  keen  awakening  tones.     (Shelley). 

87.  Where  their  own  groans 

They  felt  but  heard  not,  for  the  solid  roar 

Of  thunderous  waterfalls  and  torrents  hoarse.     (Keats). 

89.  Peace  more  sweet 

Than  music,  light  more  soft  than  shadow  lay 

On  downs  and  moorlands  wan  with  day's  defeat, 
That. watched  afar  above 
Life's  very  rose  of  love 
Let  all  its  lustrous  leaves  fall,  fade,  and  fleet, 
And  fill  all  heaven  and  earth 
Full  as  with  fires  of  birth 

Whence  time  should  feed  his  years  with  light  and  heat, 
Nay,  not  life's  but  a  flower  more  strong 
Than  life  or  time  or  death,  love's  very  rose  of  song.     (Swinburne). 

91.  No  dirge  will  I  upraise, 

But  waft  the  angel  on  her  flight  with  a  paean  of  old  days.     (Poe). 

92.  Flashed  from  her  motion  splendour  like  the  Morn's.     (Shelley). 

93.  And  then  another,  then  another  strain, 
Each  like  a  dove  leaving  its  olive  perch, 
With  music  wing'd  instead  of  silent  plumes, 
To  hover  round  my  head,  and  make  me  sick 
Of  joy  and  grief  at  once.     (Keats). 

94.  Magic  casements  opening  on  the  foam 

Of  perilous  seas,  in  faery  lands  forlorn.     (Keats). 

95.  Glides  spectre-like,  unto  his  marble  home, 
Lit  by  the  wan  light  of  the  horned  moon, 

The  swift  and  silent  lizard  of  the  stones.     (Poe). 

96.  Why  cannot  the  ear  be  closed  to  its  own  destruction? 
Or  the  glistening  eye  to  the  poison  of  a  smile? 

Why  are  the  eyelids  stored  .with  arrows  ready  drawn, 
Where  a  thousand  fighting-men  in  ambush  lie, 
Or  an  eye  of  gifts  and  graces  showering  fruits  and  coined  gold? 
Why  a  tongue  impressed  with  honey  from  every  wind? 


Why  an  ear,  a  whirlpool  fierce  to  draw  creation  in?     (Blake). 

97.  And  every  gentle  air  that  dallied, 

In  that  sweet  day, 

Along  the  ramparts  plumed  and  pallid 
A  winged  odour  went  away.     (Poe). 

98.  Ah,  by  no  wind  those  clouds  are  driven 
That  rustle  through  the  unquiet  heaven — 
Ah,  by  no  wind  are  stirred  those  trees 
That  palpitate  like  the  chill  seas 
Around  the  misty  Hebrides!     (Poe). 


56  Till-     I. MAC.  IN  A  I.    KliAO'loN    T.  i    1'uKTKY. 

99.    Ami  that  aspiring  flower  that  sprang  on  Karth — 
Ami  died,  ere  scarce  cxalti-d  into  birth, 
r.ur-ting  its  odorous  heart  in  -pirit  to  wing 
It-  way  to  Heaven,  from  tin-  garden  of  a  king.     (Poc). 

VIOO.        \\'hat  a  liquid  ditty  float  - 

To  the  turtle-dove  that  listens.     (Poe). 

104.  For  every  sound  that  floats 
From  the  ru-t  within  their  throats 

Is  a  groan.     (Poe). 

105.  And  all  with  pearl  and  ruby  glowing 

Was  the  fair  palace  door, 
Through  which  came  flowing,  flowing,  flowing, 

And  sparkling  evermore, 
A  troop  of  Echoes,  whose  sweet  duty 

Was  but  to  sing, 
In  voices  of  surpassing  beauty. 

The  wit  and  wisdom  of  their  king.     (Poe). 

107.  And  soon  her  strain 

The  nightingale  began  ;  now  loud, 

Climbing  in  circles  the  windless  sky, 

Now  dying  music;   suddenly 

'Tis  scattered  in  a  thousand  notes, 

And  now  to  the  hushed  ear  it  floats 

Like  field  smells  known  in  infancy.     (Shelley). 

1 08.  One,  whose  voice  was  venomed  melody, 
Sate  by  a  well,  under  blue  night-shade  bowers ; 

The  breath  of  her  false  mouth  \vas  like  faint  flowers, 

Her  touch  was  as  electric  poison, — flame 

Out  of  her  looks  into  my  vitals  came, 

And  from  her  living  cheeks  and  bosom  flew 

A  killing  air,  which  pierced  like  honey-dew 

Into  the  core  of  my  green  heart,  and  lay 

I'pon  its  leaves.    (Shelley). 

109.  Also,  when  he  would  taste  the  spicy  wreaths 
Of  incense,  breath'd  from  sacred  hills, 
Instead  of  sweets,  his  ample  palate  took 

Savor  of  poisonous  brass  and  metal  sick.     ( Keats ) . 

in.    And  odours  in  a  kind  of  aviary 

Of  ever-blooming  Eden-trees  she  kept, 
Clipt  in  a  floating  net.  a  lovesick  Fairy 

Had  woven  from  dew-beam-  while  the  moon  yet  slept.     (Shelley). 

1 13.    And  all  the  place  is  peopled  with  sweet  air- ; 
The  light  clear  element  which  the  i-le  wear- 
1-  heavy  with  the  scent  of  lemon-flowers, 
Which  floats  like  mi-t  laden  with  unseen  shower-. 
And  falls  upon  the  eye-lids  like  faint  sleep; 
And  from  the  moss  violets  and  jonquils  peep 
And  dart  their  arrowy  odor  through  the  brain 
Till  you  might  faint  with  that  delicious  pain.     (Shelley). 


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